The saddest thing ever happened yesterday. Hermana Schmidt abandoned me to go be with her family. Oh man. One day I will forgive her for leaving me. This last transfer with her has been a dream. It's just been way too good. I kept telling her that she's way too easy to live with. She's just the greatest. Well yup. So yesterday Hermana Schmidt left and we picked up my new companion, Hermana Perez. She's from Mexico and I can already tell she's great. She was in my Zone already and just changed areas to be with me. It's going to be a good transfer.
This week we had Consejo de Lideres so we traveled to the capital super early in the morning on Wednesday. It was so great and totally worth it. We had an awesome conversation about our identity as children of God. It's interesting because Satan will tell us that our weaknesses are what define us. However, our identity is greater than any weakness. Really, we are children of God with the potential to become like Him. Any weakness we have can be overcome by the Atonement, yet our identity as children of God can never be overcome by anything. Our identity will always exist. On Tuesday there was a bunch of rain and we called our dear friend, who's a member, Manila, to pick us up. Thankfully she rescued us since we were basically trapped under a gas station with rivers of water on all sides. It was just in time for lunch so we took advantage of the situation and ate Chinese with her :) Saturday I spent the day in San Pedro since Hermana Schmidt had to go to the temple with all the other missionaries that are leaving this transfer. Oh man. I'm already missing that girl. Anyway. I don't have a way to put my camera in this time so there's no photos. Sorry. But I love you guys. Keep being great. And never forget your divine identity as sons and daughters of God. That means that one day you will be like Him. It means you are of great worth. It means that your weaknesses are not you. Rather, they are opportunities to grow and become closer to Christ and to get to know the Atonement more fully. I love you all! Hermana Shaw
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This week consisted of two capital trips, an intercambio, and teaching Rodgrigo all the lessons in one week.
On Tuesday we got to go to the temple and it was so wonderful. I really love that place. We are blessed as a mission because we have the privilege of being able to go 4 times a year to that holy place. On Saturday we had another trip to the capital where we attended a conference about the history of the church where Richard Turley, a church historian, spoke. It was fascinating to learn more about the church's background and it was such a testimony builder. The authority and power of God is so evident in how the Book of Mormon was translated by a young man with hardly any education. Throughout this week we visited Rodrigo nearly every night so that we could get him completely ready for his baptism before he moved to the Santo Domingo West Mission on Saturday. Wow. The Spirit was so strong each time we visited him. He was so immensely prepared to accept the gospel. He glowed at each truth we taught and is reading his Book of Mormon every day. Upon hearing that he could do the temple work for his mom and his other ancestors, he just lit up and got so excited. The last night we got to see him he said, "I will never forget the missionaries that taught me everything in a week." It's amazing how some people just come so prepared to accept the gospel. We won't get to witness his baptism in Santo Domingo or really watch his progression after this, but it was an honor to be a part of it. He left with a firm testimony of the gospel and this church, and an excitement to get baptized in his new home. And all this developed in less than two weeks of knowing him. You really never know who has been prepared until you open your mouth and share with them. I love you all. The church is true. Hermana Shaw This week Hermana Schmidt and I did something crazy. On Wednesday we started an intercambio (companion exchange) then on Thursday after we ended that one, we started another. So Hermana Rosario spent the day with me in our area on Wednesday, then I spent Thursday in Hato Mayor with Hermana Alonzo. Basically two whole days without my dear Hermana Schmidt! Oh. Life can be hard sometimes. But it was necessary. And the intercambios were good :)
Sabrina is actively reading her Book of Mormon and her daughter Camila as well! I love those two girls. They are amazing. Yet we have had almost 0 contact with Sabrina because she is never home. Ever! We have passed countless times and either just her kids are there alone or there is no one. But we are praying her job calms down soon so our lessons can be more regular. Oh story time... Once we passed by to visit Sabrina and this man opens the door. We begin talking and notice a little puppy walking behind him. Hermana Schmidt always has to take pictures with cute things, so we ask if we can. He gives it to her and as we take some pictures, the man starts acting stranger and stranger. We give the puppy back to him and he half throws/half slides the puppy away and inside the house. At this point we feel like there is something definitely different about him and we begin to ask him about Sabrina and when she'll be home. At this point he starts getting kind of threatening and begins saying things like, "Why do you want to know?!" or "She won't be home for a whole week!!!" or "You think your friends with her, don't you??!!!" At this point we just told him to have a good day and left. But yeah. That was kind of concerning. Luckily when we went back the other day he was gone and her husband explained that it was a family member who is a little off. Wow. We met the coolest guy this week! Salt Lake City called us a week ago and gave us the number and direction of a man named Rodrigo Rubio. We got a hold of him and scheduled an appointment for Wednesday. And WOW. He has so much interest in the gospel and is so prepared. When Hermana Schmidt and I returned on Saturday he had read and completely understood the whole Restoration pamphlet and had even started reading the Book of Mormon on the app in his phone! He is such a cool guy with an honest desire to learn. We invited him to be baptized in a couple of weeks and he accepted to prepare for that day. He was honestly concerned and curious about the requirements for baptism and he has a sincere and willing heart. Sounds like sunshine and daisies right? Just one thing... he's moving to Santo Domingo this Saturday! It's kind of sad because that means we won't be able to witness his baptism but before we even suggested it, he asked us to send his information to the missionaries there. But wow people like him just strengthen my testimony that there are people out there that the Lord has prepared. Today our P-day ends early because tomorrow we're going to the temple! I can't wait! I love that place. It's amazing how much perspective we gain from going there. I love you all! The church is true and the book is blue. Keep being awesome, Hermana Shaw Hermana Shaw's definition of "The Emotional Flat-line: A state of not caring. A state where there is no sorrow, yet no real happiness. Where you can feel no real joy because you have felt no pain. Often this line is ridden because people think it will protect them from disappointment. Upon entering this line, they often don't realize how much they really are missing. They don't see that instead of protecting themselves from disappointment, they are actually neglecting themselves from experiencing the best that life has to offer: deep caring, deep love,and deep joy. This is a story of the appreciation for the lack of emotional flatness. Do you guys remember Petra? She was the lady who we contacted, taught, accepted a baptismal date, and was so excited for everything right on the first visit. Later she called us to tell us she had decided to stick with her church. Well fast forward to this week. On Tuesday we felt strongly we should go visit her and talk to her in person to see what happened. She was so warm when she saw us and she let us in. After a bit of talking, we taught the entire lesson of The Restoration and the Spirit was SO STRONG. Hermana Schmidt and I agreed it was one of the most clearly-explained, well-accepted Lesson 1 we had ever had in all of our missions. The Spirit just guided us and Petra and her daughter, Paloma, got so into it. They were all on board. They said they believed in our words and they felt good. We closed with a prayer and left, just glowing and so happy we had gone. From even the first visit we had developed a special care for Petra and her family so we were extremely glad we went back. Okay. Fast forward three days toThursday. Hermana Schmidt calls and yet AGAIN Petra informs her that we can't come because they feel good in their church and they won't leave it. Later that day we both felt like we needed to go visit them and see what was going on. And let me tell you, this whole process, but especially that last lesson with them, was nothing like riding the emotional flat line. In the lesson the Spirit was so strong. We let Him guide us in asking questions and testifying of the church. Yet nothing we said, nothing at all, could make them change their mind. I felt our missionary authority being exercised so powerfully, yet they did not accept it. And I felt so sad. I felt so emotionally low. Yet at the same time, I could feel the Spirit strengthening me. We sang "Joseph Smith's Prayer" to close and said a prayer. Tears were in Petra's eyes. And seeing it all was heartbreaking. They were very friendly the whole time, but made it clear they would never go to church or join with us. Even though we were taken so low emotionally, we were able to see such a great high, leaving with firmer testimonies of this church and its necessity for our eternal salvation. I am grateful that we didn't chose to ride the emotional flatline. It hurt, but taking off the emotional blinders and letting everything be felt, was worth it. I know this church is true. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet. I know that there is only one true church on the Earth. It is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. It is guided by Him, through a living day prophet. It is organized after the manner in which Jesus Christ established it. I love you all, Hermana Shaw Hermana Schmidt and I love to make mango smoothies and popcorn. It's our weakness. Today for Pday we went to La Basilica, a cool Catholic church in Higuey. At the Noche Blanca in the Stake Center. Some members of the ward that we love to pieces.
So Hermana Shaw and Hermana Schmidt are sitting peacefully in their weekly meeting with their Ward Mission Leader. It's dark out and the breeze feels good through the window. They're seated around a table in his house, calmly discussing their investigators. Hermana Shaw takes a sip of water as Hermana Schmidt talks, And BOOM. A lizard just lands, straight on Hermana Shaw's shoulder. And note what's written two sentences back... Hermana Shaw was taking a sip from her water bottle as this happened. Yet miraculously, Hermana Shaw did not spew water out. Not even a bit. Hermana Shaw kept her cool, jumped a bit, looked over, saw the lizard, let out a frightened noise, and shook the little creature off.
> > A lot of this week was spent in the capital (Santo Domingo), at meetings in the Mission Office. I had my first Leadership Counsel on Wednesday and then two days later we traveled back for a New Leaders Meeting. They were great. I learned a lot. One thing we've been talking a lot in the mission is the power there is in our faith in Christ. Somehow our faith in Christ works so many miracles. As we have faith in the blessings we have been promised, and treat them like present, current blessings in our life, they are manifested with more frecuency and power. Faith moves mountains. Faith is what brings our blessings to the surface. > > I'm pretty sure I have the coolest companion in the world. We have so much fun together and sometimes we just catch ourselves talking forever about anything. We work hard and we are seeing a lot of miracles. The Lord is blessing us and this area. I love La Romana and I love Hermana Schmidt! One thing I ESPECIALLY love is that she makes me do last minute things like sing a solo in church, with just a few hours notice. It started out as a joke but it escalated and I ended up giving in. Pretty soon she was on the phone calling the Bishop and setting up everything. In church I sang "Oh My Father" to the tune of "Come Thou Fount." Hermana Schmidt played the piano. She's so talented. > > We have seen a lot of miracles lately, especially with people accepting to prepare to be baptized. I often feel so desperate when people don't accept baptismal invitations. I just wish everyone could see with perfect clarity the importance of that small decision. Yet the Lord has been preparing people and we are seeing a lot of miracles in that aspect of the work. > > One of our investigators, a thirteen year old girl named Nayua, told us she believes the church is true. We then asked her why. She said with so much confidence and maturity, "Because I've been to other churches and they're not the same." > > I add my testimony to Nayua's. I know that this church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, is true. I know that Christ lives and that He directs this church through a living prophet. I know we have the fulness of the gospel, and that is what makes us different from any other church. > > I love you all. Keep strong. Smile. > Hermana Shaw After a long day of waiting around in the Mission Office for transfers, a very long bus ride, and unpacking, we receive a knock on the door of our apartment. Hermana Schmidt opens it up to find the Zone Leaders and our Bishop standing there, with visual annoyance. Apparently, the Zone Leaders had called us 36 times, the District Leader about 7 times, and the Bishop about 4, to find out if we had arrived home safely or not. Well. We arrived safely. Just turns out our phone was on silent and we were so absorbed in our conversation that we didn´t check it for quite some time. Life lesson learned. The phone will not be left on silent anymore.
Despite the bumpy welcoming to La Romana, I am loving my new area and I am especially loving being here with Hermana Schmidt! She´s the coolest. She has one more transfer left, and she´s my first American companion. We get along really well and just talk all the time. Benjamin, the name of my area, is really big and has a lot of variety in the different sectors. We have a super nice, rich area, then a more middle class one, then parts that are definitely struggling more. The ocean borders us and is beautiful. There aren´t a lot of places to see it, but it´s pretty when you do. I´m in a ward with a lot of great members that are willing to help us out. I have a lot of good feelings about this place. This week we had an awesome Zone Conference that lasted nearly all day on Friday. It was amazing. President Corbitt, Hermana Corbitt, and the Assistants all gave talks which were great. After that, we met this lady on the street and offered to help her with her bags. We walked her home and got talking and everything flowed amazingly. Long story short, we ended up teaching her in her house and putting a baptismal date right then and there. She accepted. We were so happy. On Saturday, we called her to remind her about church, and she informed us that she will no longer be listening to us because her mom told her not to. When Hermana Schmidt got off the phone we kind of just hugged each other and were in shock. We´re planning to go back and visit her to see exactly what happened. That situation got me thinking though about how church should never be just a social thing, because your salvation is not just a social matter. Her true opinions that she expressed to us were all in agreeance with ours. She really felt like she had found many answers in the lesson. Yet she took back all her impressions, all her excitement, just because her mom told her to. Do we really have Christ and our testimony written in our hearts? Or are we willing to take back what we have felt to be true just because of one comment? Every day is another day to write His name deeper, to put forth the effort to base ourselves more firmly in His gospel, and to decide for ourselves to follow Him, despite whatever comment or opinion that comes. I love you all! Keep firm in the faith. Hermana Shaw So transfers have arrived yet again. Yesterday President Corbitt called to let me know I´m going to be a Sister Leader in an area called Benjamin in the zone, La Romana, with Hermana Schmidt. It´s her last transfer in the mission, and I actually met her mom on Facebook before leaving on the mission! Hermana Monjaras will finish the training of my mission daughter, Hermana Barreda. It´s weird to leave the comfort of Nuevo Amanecer. It´s so lovely here and I really enjoyed this transfer with Hermana Barreda. She is incredible. And the people here will always be a part of me. Yet I´m also excited to experience new things and see what it´s like having an American companion ;) On Tuesday we celebrated the fact that I completed another year of life. I guess I´m 20 now? Weird stuff. One of our investigators made us lunch, then Hermana Monjaras made us lunch when we got home, then Anthony, an investigator, gave me two candy bars. Let´s just say there was a lot of food going around that day. This week we had some pretty powerful lessons about the Restoration. I never get tired of hearing the First Vision. I think it´s my favorite part. Just hearing those words and thinking about how God restored the fulness of the gospel to the Earth through a prophet that had that authority. It never ceases to amaze me.
This week I have thought a lot about how patient Jesus Christ is with us. He loves us even though we are so far behind Him and who He asks us to be. As we understand that love He has for us, it is easier for us to love others. We also come to love and respect Him more. Everything He did for us was out of the love He has. He is amazing. Even if we don´t understand everything in the moment, His timing is perfect. And His love is infinite. I love you all, Keep strong, Love a little more, Hermana Shaw Wow. What a week. We had our Noche Blanca on Saturday, where all the baptisms of the zone/stake were realized. We got to witness 26 people enter into the waters of baptism. There were about 300 people there which was incredible. It was an amazing experience that I honestly will never forget. So something really cool happened the night before the Noche Blanca. ON FRIDAY HERMANO APOLINAR AGREED TO GET BAPTIZED ON SATURDAY. Yes, you read that right. The night before the Noche Blanca, Hermano Apolinar agreed to get baptized the very next day. The lesson we had with him is one I will never forget. We had something entirely different in our plans... We were going to talk about the 10 Commandments, but luckily the Spirit took us in a different direction. What happened in that lesson is very close to my heart. After much discussion and a very powerful lesson about the Spirit and how He communicates with us, we began to fill out the paperwork for his baptism and scheduled his baptismal interview for Saturday in the morning. So on Saturday we got to see two of our investigators get baptized: one planned and one unplanned. Isaias, the father of a family of members, and Apolinar, who agreed to get baptized so last minute. It was amazing to see those two men enter into that covenant with their Father in Heaven. They are both amazing and I love them so much. I can´t count how many times Hermano Apolinar tried to hug us (which you can´t do as a missionary since he´s a guy). He was so happy. The Sunday after we ate with Isaias and his family. They are so happy as well. Let´s just say everyone is so happy! This week a green lizard snuck into our bathroom. After a lot of screaming from all the Hermanas, chasing, and jumping, I finally caught it. We named it Elder Green and let it loose into the wild. The flood situation has finally been fixed. We no longer have to return home to a reeking, flooded house. HALLELUJAH. Dominican Republic Fun Fact: In our Branch we don´t have anyone to play piano so we nearly always sing without one. Dominicans have a very low singing range and also have a tendency to change keys every once in a while in the middle of a song. Let´s just say I am learning to sing lower than my usual soprano voice.
I love you all! Thank you for your support and prayers. I know all of it helped us to have such a wonderful week with so many miracles. I appreciate all of it. Hermana Shaw Okay it´s not what you think, but technically the subject didn´t lie. Our house flooded three times this week. Want to know how? Well. Apparently one day the sink was clogged in the kitchen and the water wouldn´t drain. So the other Hermanas decided it would be a good idea to take out all the tubes below to clean it out. Turns out that was pretty easy. What proved to be a bit harder, though, was putting everything back together. This means that the Hermanas left it as is and left. When all four of us returned to the house that night, there was water all over the floor that reeked pretty bad. We cleaned it up and put a bucket underneath in hopes it wouldn´t happen again. Well it happened again. Two more times. Finally we stuffed some plastic bags in the hole in the wall and the plumber came. He put the tubes back together but the sink is still completely clogged and reeking water occasionally rises up into it. It´s been an interesting adventure. Luckily we take advantage of our challenges and sing hymns as we dance around with the mops. I´m grateful for Hermanas with good attitudes. We made two miracle contacts this week from referrals we received. Each one was so prepared for the gospel, with either friends or family who are already members. One even already is reading the Book of Mormon, has a testimony, and told us he wants to get baptized the 14th of February. Unfortunately, these miracle contacts turned out to be just out of our area. Both of them. They are in other missionaries´ hands now and we are grateful to have met those two people, even though we wish we could see their progress more closely. People like them just strengthen our testimony that there are people waiting and ready to receive this gospel. Apolinar Cubilite is planning to get baptized the 20th of February!! The only reason why it´s out so late is because he´s not going to be in town for the Noche Blanca this Saturday, or the 31, or the 6th, or the 7th... until the 20th. But he said he wants to get baptized, even if his wife doesn´t get baptized with him. This really is an answer to many of our prayers and fasts. That man is amazing. I am secretly hoping I stay in Nuevo Amanecer one more transfer so I can see his baptism service. He is very close to my heart and will be a great leader in the church. Isaias is still excited for his baptism this Saturday and we are too! He is the only non-member in his family and has been prepared for 20 years to receive the lessons. I can´t wait to see the family take one step closer to being an eternal family. One thing I find interesting is how both obedience and attitude influence our ability to feel the Spirit. We can be completely obedient and still not feel the Spirit if we´re too grumpy to notice it. Laman and Lemuel obeyed and followed their family everywhere. They even returned for the gold plates and risked their lives to obtain them. Yet the whole time they complained and were impatient. I think being obedient doesn´t entitle you to the Spirit. Rather it is being obedient with a good attitude that will bring you blessings and allow Him to enter into your heart. I love you all, Smile at someone today, Hermana Shaw Today we had a Zone Activity and got a bunch of flour thrown in our faces. It was pretty fun actually. The other picture is my daughter, Hermana Barreda, and I. She gave me a pretty flower we found in the street and I put it in my hair. Some pretty plants are starting to grow here!
Heads up. This will be short.
Well this week was great. We had interviews with President Corbitt, who is basically the most awesome man on the entire planet and is filled with an infinite amount of wisdom and love, had an activity in the church where we watched Meet the Mormons, made some popcorn at Ana Belkis¨ house and watched The Restoration, went to clean a less active´s house, got in the middle of an intense mom daughter fight while trying to teach a lesson, found out that Ana Belkis isn´t going to move after all, learned a bunch about how to be better missionaries in two meetings we had, saw Maykey (yay!), saw 5 investigators in church, laughed a lot with Hermana Barreda, OH and Isaias is planning to get baptized the 30th of January! It has been a week full of miracles and adventures. Recently I had been starting to doubt everyone´s word because we had a lot of investigators that would agree to things or say they´d do things like read or go to church but never did. They agree with such enthusiasm that I soon began to feel I couldn´t trust in anyone. It got me thinking about the importance of honesty and fulfilling one´s word. It´s such a small thing but it so important. Why lie, anyway? It´s always better to be honest. Luckily this week picked up my spirits and we have found people that are actually keeping their word, going to church, reading, etc. I love you all, sorry this couldn´t be any longer or better formatted. Just be honest people, Hermana Shaw |
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Letters: Sophia Shaw Santo Domingo East MIssion SDQ 4102, 2250 NW 114th Ave. Miami, FL 33172-3652 Packages: Sophia Shaw AP-000914 8540 NW 66th St. Miami, FL 33195 - 2698 lds.org mormon.org Dominican Republic Santo Domingo East MissionArchives
February 2017
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