8/26/13

Dear Mom, 

 

   Funnily enough, Airton found us. He had been talking with the missionaries before, but He was having trouble about the Sabbath and parts of the plan of Salvation. They had been visiting him reguraly but had stopped for a few months. So we began teaching him again and we helped him with his doubts. He was praying about these things when he received an answer, and now knows that these things are true. He was baptized Last week and will receive the holy ghost this next sunday. 

 

   It´s been a little hard to learn but I´ve got a handle of it. I´ve been feeling fine and I´m in good health. There´s been a few changes in the mission, so it does take up time on the computer, but I´m really doing great. I´m baptizing people and the Branch is growing. It´s good to be a missionary here in the North East of Brazil.

 

   We´ve also found a teenager named Lucas Lima that was baptized last Sunday. He used to stay in the house all the time and didn´t go to school as much. Now we´ve got him to start coming to church and all the activities. His Mom is very happy about the change in attitude, and I think she´s taken an interest in the church. 

 

   It´s great to hear about everything that´s going on at home. Thanks for the updates and for the news about the family. Next week I´m going to not write all of the things for the mission and I´ll write a weekly report like I used to. I´ll try to send some pictures too. 

 

   I know that what I´m doing here to help the mission is called of God. Lives are really changing for the better including mine. I know that if all of us keep the commanments and repent daily, we´ll se each other in the Kingdom of God, on his right hand. I love you all, and pray that everything will be for the beast.

 

   Sincerly, Your Loving Son,

 

                                         Elder Shepard

Here is Elder Shepard's address 8/26/13

Mon, Aug 26, 2013 at 9:57 AM

Mailing address: Missão Brasil Teresina, A/C - Elder Jacob Shepard, CPX: 2321, Teresina - PI, CEP: 64001-973, BRAZIL

8/19/13

Dear Mom,
             

   Sorry about the last pre sent letter. Thank you for all the help with the bank. I´ll pay you back all the you´ve spent on me after the mission. I know that I can´t pay back all the things you´ve both done for me, but hopefully this mission will help. How are things at home?

 

It´s getting close to the of this transfer, so I only have about 2 more weeks here in Camocim. We started teaching a guy that teaches selfdefence, but he doesn´t believe in Jesus and many other things, so we just talk to him on on p day, when he shows us a few things.

 

The president is really great. The Branch needs a lot of help but Í think they´ll get there. We´ve had a lot of work here and the members aren´t always together on everything, but us missionaries are doing our best.

 

We just baptized a man named Airton. He really enjoys every part of the gospel and is trying very hard to help the ward. 

 

elder Shepard  

 

O didn´t have much time ether, but I love you.

8/12/13

Dear Mom,

               The mission has been going fast for me. What you said was true, about months and weeks go fast but the days at times go slow. Elder Bird is goo. Camocim is doing good, though we are still looking for a lot more people to teach. We are working very hard.

 We are teaching a young man named Regis who is going to be baptized this next Saturday. He´s only twenty and he knows some members in the church.  We hope to baptize an older man named Airton( pronounced I-ir-ten) That has practically memorized the bible. He´s prayed about the book of mormon and the church and he knows it´s all true. He only has a few problems getting to church. We have a lot of other good people but they aren´t easy to find in home.
That´s awesome that everbody is doing well. The president of the mission is visiting today so I only have a little time. I love you all and hope everyone is doing well.

  Love,
         Elder Shepard

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