Letter to Mom 7/29/13

From: "Jacob Shepard" <jacob.shepard@myldsmail.net>
Sent: Monday, July 29, 2013 11:47:09 AM
Subject: Re: Weekly Report of Elder Shepard

 

Dear Mom and Dad,

                                I´m fine and healthy will be alright. I had been having headaches and loss of energy but I went to the doctor here and got better. It does stink that the guy stole our phone but we´ll be ok. There is another pair of missionaries here and we are sharing their phone. The mission should get a new phone to us soon, if not by the end of August. You don´t have anything to be sorry for. I had been getting behind on some letters to you, so you have nothing to worry about.

   Sounds like the house is really taking on a lot of changes. It´s probably a lot cheaper to maintain without five others kids. I remember that when I was looking for my driver´s license, I sort of took apart my room. Have you taken my old room apart and put all of my things into boxes? Now that I think about, about 96 percent of all that was bought by you guys. I remember that Othelo parady. My english teacher showed a part of it to me and I think i´ve seen some other Shakespeare humor plays with you and Dad.

  There´s a few people here in Camocim that have gone through the temple and one couple that are going there soon to get sealed. It´s funny how I´ve only been here for about 7 months and I´ve seen the blessings of every part of the church. And on the other hand, just about every part of the church attacked by other churchs and beliefs. Not physically but with arguing and preaching against the Church. And on top of that, I have the comfort of the true church of God behind me as I use His priesthood to do his ordinances.

   At times, it´s frustrating to have a lot trying to stop or slow the work here, but It´s now starting to pick up, When I first got here, only about 38 people came to church regularl. Now, it´s up to fifty four and we have 8 people baptized. The leadership is starting to help a lot more and the members are more excited about the missionary work here. Thank you for all your support and love. 

 

Love,

        Elder Shepard

Weekly Report of Elder Shepard 7/22/13

Mon, Jul 22, 2013 at 8:29 AM

Dear Everybody,

                        How is everyone? It´s been a couple of weeks since I´ve written one of these but things have been going great here. Camocim is a town that gets by mostly by it´s fishing industry.  It´s on the coast and is pretty beautiful. As missionaries we tend to walk around a lot, talkin to a lot of people and going from one end of the town to the other. Snce we walk everywhere, we get a lot of chances to see the beach from the side walk and the ocean. I´m still working on my camera situation  get pictures for everyone but it´s pretty awesome here. Some weeks back there were some protests during the World Cup with Brazil, since a lot of people want better things then just stadiums and soccer teams, but Camocim was mostly untouched. A lot of people talk about how a lot of Brasil needs to change but most think that Camocim is a great place. There´s not much to do here but it´s a nice place to be.

   While we serve down here in Brasil, we find people to teach and those that want to learn more about God  and Jesus Christ. Being in Brasil, most people are religious and there are various churches here, Many have conflicting beliefs and tend to fight and argue about what´s really true. Some go door to door saying people will burn in hell unless they do what the other people want. So, quite a few are tired of the craziness. When we talk to people, we like to converse and invite people to learn more. Several are pretty receptive since it´s different then the usual bible bashing. What we t to teach are things that will improve there lives and have them act on what they believe.

   Lately, we´ve been taking to a lot of younger guys that have done military exercises that is mandatory for one year. Most know each other and are pretty good people. The youth in Brazil have a lot of challenges to cover. Drugs, alcohol, and general pleasure seeking destroys the lives of many and lead others to broken families and children with out parents. Luckily these guys have grown up with good parents and chose to do better things. One of them is called Antonio Rodrigues. He practices Jiu Jitsu and is studying in college. He doesn´have a goal in mind right now but he´s doing good. He has always been interested in God but hes run into a lot of hypocrites before. We´ve been teaching him for about a month or so, and he´s decide to get baptized this Saturday. With him it´s been really great to see some understand what we are saying(doctrine wise, not Portuguese) and decide to act on it.

   Another interesting thing that happened is that while we were in the hospital, we met this one guy. I was a little sick and we were there for some medicine. We talked with him or a while as we waited in line for the doctor. He seemed nice enough and said he´s visit the church one day. After we got in and were waiting in an examination room,he came an asked to borrow our cell. As missionaries, we share one to call people and emergencies. He took it and called and said he´d be back.  was sick so we didn´t think much of it. But after a while he didn´t come back ad we were left twiddling our thumbs thinking we were pretty dumb. So lately we´ve been walking a lot more to go to people´s houses to confirm appointments and stuff like that. Yo learn something every day on the mission, whether it´s about God, yourself or whether or not you should watch some people more closely.

   Well that´s all he time I have, but there will be more to come every week. Send me any questions you have or anything you ant to say that´s been going on with you.

Love, Sincerely,

                     Elder Jacob Allen Shepard

7/15/13

From: "Jacob Shepard" <jacob.shepard@myldsmail.net>
Sent: Monday, July 15, 2013 11:25:32 AM

 

Dear Mom and Dad,
                             When I left the MTC, I could teach all the discussions in a simple version and after about 3 weeks in Brazil most of all the discussions too. Now the hard part is getting the people more invovled in the lesson by inspired questions and applying everything to that person. I study the scriptures, Preach my Gospel and the missionary library every morning, but I study the language every other day. Since I´m speaking Portuguese every day, I learn from practicing the language. I understand just about everything the people say, but There are still a lot of words I don´t know, so when we talk about some subjects outside of the gospel, it´s a bit dificult.

   We have recently had several missionaries return home from there missions, so they with a lot of the other members have been helping us out. They have been showing us a lot of their friends. We have started to teach several young men who are interested in God and what a lot of things mean. There names are Regis, Daniel, Leonardo and Joel. We´ve given them all the Book of Mormon and many of them are reading reguraly. Many people here are unsure about other relgion or there are out right against anything that they haven´t heard from their pastors. I remember that Dad had said he liked people who hadn´t found another church before, because they hadn´t learned any bad habits. I have to agree with him. Many people here have strange beliefs and practices that are contrary to the bible and what the prophets have taught. With many of these young men, they have been put of by the way others have tried to force their ideas on them, how they think only about money and the way many turn out to be hypocrites. I like how the younger people here are more open to talk with and hear what God wants for them. A few have accepted dates of Baptism. We´ll see how everything goes, but I have faith.

   It´s great to hear about everything at home. Everyones growing up and moving fast. Hopefully I´ll catch up one day. I know the mission is going fast already, and I´m going to miss being a missionary, but I can talk like that more in a year and a half. The way the people live and act down here is pretty different then the States, but I love the people here. I can tell that their are so many people prepared to just hear our message and make the changes that the gospel brings. I am at times sad because so many people reject us but each person that decides to listen and act is worth it. Thank you all for your support and emails. I know that someone at home is getting blessed from what I´m doing here and I hope that one day my time in the Lord´s work will bless the lives of others.

I love you all,

                   Elder Shepard

Hello! 7-8-13

Dear Dad and Mom,

At times I do get a little homesick. The Skype call helped me not be too homesick, but it also made me think about how fast everything is going. It´s already been seven months. I see people with their families and friends doing stuff together and then I think about home. Thinking about you guys and some people at home isn´t bad as long as it doesn´t distract me, but seeing things like TV or games is when I start humming hymns.

I´m trying to talk a lot more in Portuguese to my American companion so I don´t forget what I already know.

Most people won´t go for marriage here, just the one night stand thing. But the missionaries here know what to look out for when we teach or talk to people, and what to stay far away from.

 

The book of James is one of my favorite New Testament books. I´ve been reading in the Acts of the apostles and the epistles that they´ve written. It´s a little difficult to read the 4 gospels side-by-side since they have many of the same events, but the New Testament is where I´ve learned a lot about Jesus and my calling as a missionary. We got the conference magazine of last General Conference, but just that one and some older ones. You don´t have to send any, but thank you for the thought.

It´s funny that you say it was Fourth of July because Elder Bird and I woke up and said, "Hey. It´s Independence Day... whooooooo." And then he had this little U.S. flag that he shook a little. It´s interesting being in another country with different holidays.

I really miss washers and dryers. We had this problem with the old washer that I´ll explain about later, but I appreciate you a lot Mom. And things that tend to work for longer then a few months. I´ve run out of time, but thank you for all the news. It´s great to hear about home and everyone else. I hope it all works out, too. I´m praying for you all and I love you both.

Sincerely,
your tanner, thinner son,

Elder Shepard

7/1/13

Sent: Monday, July 1, 2013 12:49:41 PM

 

Dear Dad,

               Thank you for the quote. I´ve been reading through dctrine and covenants, the Book of Mormon and the Bible a lot during the mission. Every morning wih a hour to come, the people are afraid. The people want to help but put it down as nothing. I think that many peopleare frusrated with the government but a lo of the local govenment is still corrupt. One way or a another, all the prophecies of the prophets will be fulfilled. I forge exactly where, but I remeber the sriprtalking about how babes are not ready to eat meat first, but must drink milk. I like to think that our faith and willingness to obey is what help us move forward in the gospel. Here in Camocim, mos people are religious and most tend to not riot or protest. I´a pretty peaceful city, even though from what I´ve heard, it´s getting worse. However, Elder Bird and I have been finding a lot of new people that seem to be the eleits of th Lord. I pray for many of them to be ready to make changes necessary in their life to follow Jesus and be baptized as he was.  Is there anything tha yo and Mom want to hear about in my mission? If you want just ask.

Love,

        Jacob

Weekly Report from Elder Jacob Shepard

Camocim, 6-16-13

(Elder Shepard)

 

Good day, every one!

                              

This week has been busy and last week was as well (sorry about the missed report).

 

Elder Bird is my new companion here in Camocim. He is from Arizona and he has been on his mission for about a year and two months. He´s a lot more strict about the rules, which in all reality is good for me, since at times I can get lazy. We live in an apartment that has two bedrooms, a kitchen, a bathroom, a balcony, and a back maintenance room to hang up clothes. It´s the perfect size for two missionaries, but now that we have four living together it´s a little tight.

 

These past two weeks we have been working hard to find more people to teach. There are a lot of people who are Catholic, but not practicing. Most people are willing to let us in to hear about God. So it´s easy sometimes to teach people but it´s harder to find some who are willing to act on it. We found a lot of people who said that they need God more in their lives, but never had the will power to change for the better. 

 

Recently we found several young men who let us in and came to church. A lot of the youth here tend to run wild and are in bad situations in the streets: with drugs, smoking, drinking, and getting young girls pregnant. If they learn to do better by following Jesus and his teachings, it´s great to see the changes in the people for the better and a privilege to be the one to help them.

 

I love you and hope everything is going great.

 

Love,

 

Elder Shepard

Camocim, 5-19-13

(Elder Shepard)