Weekly Report of Elder Jacob Shepard

Dear everybody,

 

Sorry about the lack of reports and how the last one was sort of short, too. There has been a lot of crazy stuff that´s been going on here in Camocim. This last week was the end of the transfer, a 6 week period. At the end of each transfer a missionary can be sent to a different area, and my companion Elder Morris left to serve in Teresina. I now have a new companion named Elder Bird. He´s from Arizona and has been here in the mission about a year and 2 months. He and I are now working in an area that has not had a lot of missionary work done, so we are working hard to find new people to teach who are willing to learn and do more.

 

As missionaries, we have to work with people that have one way or another come into contact with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. So we´ve begun teaching a man that has visited the church before to quit drinking, but relapsed and was ashamed to come to church again. It was about a few weeks ago that he saw us walking on the streets and said he wanted to try again. He had started using drugs and spending less time with his wife and family, but he has been doing better. He´s given up drugs and been spending more time at home. He just has to quit drinking, and in his words, he´ll almost be a saint.

 

Elder Bird and I have talked to a lot of people but we´re trying to find people who would take what we´re talking about and make an actual difference in their lives. A lot of people talk a lot about God and say that they love their neighbor, but many times it doesn´t matter. In the Bible one of the apostles said that faith without works is dead. So saying that you love everyone and believing in God makes no difference if you don´t act on it. My dad sent me a quote about how being in a church doesn´t make you a Christian as much as being in a garage doesn´t make you a car. To tell you the truth, me being out on a mission doesn't mean I´m a good person if I don´t believe in it and do it grudgingly. I know that what we´re doing out here is where I´m supposed to be and that by this work, someone will have a better life because of it.

 

I love all of you and I hope that everything is going great. I hope that these few words will make you think about what´s important in life and I´m grateful for all the help and support you all have given me.

 

Your, something or other of some kind of relation, in the service,

 

Elder Shepard

Camocim, 6-10-13

(Elders Morris and Shepard)