10/28/2013
So this week was a kinda rough one. It was extremely hot for the most part of the week, which did not help cause I sweated like crazy. Also we had a bit of trouble entering anyone’s house till later in the day so I spent most of my week in the sun. But also we did have a baptism marked and ready for this weekend. The girl who was going to be baptized has already had many spiritual experiences that help her have a strong testimony. She came to her baptism early to talk to us and the member that passed the reference to us cause she wasn’t feeling ready.... She stayed at the church from 6 till 9 just thinking about what she should do and talking to us. In the end she decided not to be baptized. And because of that she didn’t go to church cause she felt like we were mad at her and she didn’t feel like going to church. So that just made everything even more complicated. I am just a little worn down too cause we don’t have anyone else really that we have progressing either like we did a few weeks ago. These last few weeks have been rough ones in terms of finding new people to teach which did not help us keep up the flow of baptisms. Hopefully this week though we will still have a baptism and then maybe I will be transferred to a new area. Anyways that just about sums up my week. I hope you all are doing well. I love you all and hope that you all have a great week this week.
With love,
Elder Shelton
Two Thumbs Up
Tuesday, October 29, 2013
100 Days
10/21/2013
So I hope that you all got the forward I sent which is my airplane ticket. So now we know the hour in which I will be arriving. The plane will leave a little later than I thought and wanted but I am happy anyways. Looks like I will be getting back just in time for lunch. But the end is finally coming. Here in two weeks I will start my second to last transfer and I will only have 12 weeks left. But I am doing all I can to stay focused on the work and what I am doing here. This week was rather slow. It was hot again and a lot of our plans fell through, although we did manage to get a baptism this week, which I was thankful for. We do have more on the way. It is strange cause now I feel weird if we don’t have a baptism during the week. I feel like that I did something wrong. But I know that the Lord is truly blessing my companion and me. I have baptized more people the last two transfers than just about my whole mission put together and I want to keep on with this pace. It is strange cause you don’t really know how to be a good missionary until about the end, then you go home. I truly have learned so much and my faith has grown greatly as well in the Lord. Clearly I know I have a whole lot of room to improve on in that section. Every time I let an opportunity go by due to fear I think about how I faulted faith at that moment. The opposite of faith is fear. When we have fear miracles cannot happen. We need to be sure to always trust in the Lord and not fear the future. If we are keeping the commandments and living up to His standards everything will work out great and it will all be all right. But we must obey with exactness, much like the stories of Joshua at Jericho and Namaã (sorry don’t know the name in English) who bathed in the river seven times to be cured of leprosy. We can never think any instruction or command from our church leaders is too small or too easy to be obeyed. I know this church is true and that we have a prophet of God called to speak His will to us, and when we obey, all will be all right. I love you all and hope that you all have a great week this week!
With all the love in the world,
Elder William Shelton
Sorry. I know this isn't the best picture, but the kid behind the jumping girls was our baptism this week, Andrey.
The girl beside me is our baptism from last week called Maiara. Her dad is next to her.
So I hope that you all got the forward I sent which is my airplane ticket. So now we know the hour in which I will be arriving. The plane will leave a little later than I thought and wanted but I am happy anyways. Looks like I will be getting back just in time for lunch. But the end is finally coming. Here in two weeks I will start my second to last transfer and I will only have 12 weeks left. But I am doing all I can to stay focused on the work and what I am doing here. This week was rather slow. It was hot again and a lot of our plans fell through, although we did manage to get a baptism this week, which I was thankful for. We do have more on the way. It is strange cause now I feel weird if we don’t have a baptism during the week. I feel like that I did something wrong. But I know that the Lord is truly blessing my companion and me. I have baptized more people the last two transfers than just about my whole mission put together and I want to keep on with this pace. It is strange cause you don’t really know how to be a good missionary until about the end, then you go home. I truly have learned so much and my faith has grown greatly as well in the Lord. Clearly I know I have a whole lot of room to improve on in that section. Every time I let an opportunity go by due to fear I think about how I faulted faith at that moment. The opposite of faith is fear. When we have fear miracles cannot happen. We need to be sure to always trust in the Lord and not fear the future. If we are keeping the commandments and living up to His standards everything will work out great and it will all be all right. But we must obey with exactness, much like the stories of Joshua at Jericho and Namaã (sorry don’t know the name in English) who bathed in the river seven times to be cured of leprosy. We can never think any instruction or command from our church leaders is too small or too easy to be obeyed. I know this church is true and that we have a prophet of God called to speak His will to us, and when we obey, all will be all right. I love you all and hope that you all have a great week this week!
With all the love in the world,
Elder William Shelton
Itinerário de vôo
10/21/2013
Prezado Élder Shelton,
Segue abaixo o seu itinerário de vôo.
Por gentileza envie-o para a sua família e seu presidente de estaca.
Atenciosamente,
Élder Agnelli/Élder Irineu
Secretário da Missão
Missão Brasil São Paulo Norte
MISSIONARY TRAVEL
BRAZIL SAO PAULO NORTH MISSION
SERVICE DATE FROM TO DEPART ARRIVE
DELTA AIR LINES 29JAN SAO PAULO SP ATLANTA GA 1140P 632A
DL 104 WEDNESDAY GUARULHOS INTL HARTSFIELD JAC 30JAN
V ECONOMY AIRCRAFT: BOEING 767-400
SEAT 37B CONFIRMED
RESERVATION CONFIRMED
DELTA AIR LINES 30JAN ATLANTA GA GREENVILLE SC 1030A 1130A
DL 2250 THURSDAY HARTSFIELD JAC SPARTANBURG
V ECONOMY AIRCRAFT: BOEING (DOUGLAS) MD-88
SEAT 22C CONFIRMED
RESERVATION CONFIRMED
SHELTON/WILLIAM ROBERT 239200-R
ETKT:DL/006 7282489034
Prezado Élder Shelton,
Segue abaixo o seu itinerário de vôo.
Por gentileza envie-o para a sua família e seu presidente de estaca.
Atenciosamente,
Élder Agnelli/Élder Irineu
Secretário da Missão
Missão Brasil São Paulo Norte
MISSIONARY TRAVEL
BRAZIL SAO PAULO NORTH MISSION
SERVICE DATE FROM TO DEPART ARRIVE
DELTA AIR LINES 29JAN SAO PAULO SP ATLANTA GA 1140P 632A
DL 104 WEDNESDAY GUARULHOS INTL HARTSFIELD JAC 30JAN
V ECONOMY AIRCRAFT: BOEING 767-400
SEAT 37B CONFIRMED
RESERVATION CONFIRMED
DELTA AIR LINES 30JAN ATLANTA GA GREENVILLE SC 1030A 1130A
DL 2250 THURSDAY HARTSFIELD JAC SPARTANBURG
V ECONOMY AIRCRAFT: BOEING (DOUGLAS) MD-88
SEAT 22C CONFIRMED
RESERVATION CONFIRMED
SHELTON/WILLIAM ROBERT 239200-R
ETKT:DL/006 7282489034
A Fairly Good Week
10/14/2013
So this week was rather decent for the most part. The weather was kinda hot and we did quite a bit of walking due to a fault of effective planning, but we were able to get one baptism this week, which did make me rather happy especially since last week, we didn’t get one. But the girl we baptized this week is called Maiara. She was a reference from a member. From this girl as well we were able to find four more people who are showing a lot of interest in the church as well and who also went to her baptism, which was really good. Hopefully we can continue baptizing weekly. I can truly feel the Lord help us in our work though. These last two transfers have been the best I have had in my mission and I am glad with the work that I have been able to perform for the Lord in this time. I hope that I can continue on with this rhythm until the end of my mission. But transfers are coming up in three weeks and I am almost sure that I will be transferred. I kinda hope I train cause I have not done so yet and I would like the experience. But nothing out of the ordinary happened this week. Just know I am doing fine and missing you all. Love you all!!!
So this week was rather decent for the most part. The weather was kinda hot and we did quite a bit of walking due to a fault of effective planning, but we were able to get one baptism this week, which did make me rather happy especially since last week, we didn’t get one. But the girl we baptized this week is called Maiara. She was a reference from a member. From this girl as well we were able to find four more people who are showing a lot of interest in the church as well and who also went to her baptism, which was really good. Hopefully we can continue baptizing weekly. I can truly feel the Lord help us in our work though. These last two transfers have been the best I have had in my mission and I am glad with the work that I have been able to perform for the Lord in this time. I hope that I can continue on with this rhythm until the end of my mission. But transfers are coming up in three weeks and I am almost sure that I will be transferred. I kinda hope I train cause I have not done so yet and I would like the experience. But nothing out of the ordinary happened this week. Just know I am doing fine and missing you all. Love you all!!!
Last Conference of the Mission!!!!
10/7/2013
So the last conference I watched on the mission has now come and gone and I can say the next conference I will enjoy in the good ole USA. So we watched conference at our local chapel and it was through the Internet. Lets just say the Internet was not that good. It fell through a few times during the transmission and I had to watch it in Portuguese so it wasn’t quite as good. I hardly got to hear Elder Scotts talk cause the Internet fell through during his talk and it was mostly in Spanish for some reason or another. At least I can understand a good bit of Spanish due to the Portuguese. But still conference was really good despite the trials we had with Internet and what not. My favorite talk was probably from Neil L. Anderson. It really elaborated how our biggest challenge in life is self-control and how we control our bodies. As I teach more and more people about the commandments I can see that all sins are related to our bodies in some form or another. This is due to the fact that we are fallen creatures but we do have the power to overcome this state and learn self-control through the atonement of Jesus Christ.
But conference really was the highlight of the week. We had to go to Sorocaba one day for a mission council due to the fact that most of the zones are now in the interior and not in the capital with the new mission divisions. But it was neat to get to go back there. But that is about all that happened this week. Sadly we didn’t have a baptism even though we had one planned. But this week for sure there will be baptisms!!!! We have one young woman who was a member reference who went to three sessions of conference and really loves the church. We are excited for her! Also please remember to do what the prophets and apostles are asking us and at least pray to show the church to one person before Christmas! I love you all and hope you all have a great week!!!!
Old Shoes
New Shoes
Brazil Day at Conference! Yes, the guy in the blue tie is American. He's from North Carolina.
So the last conference I watched on the mission has now come and gone and I can say the next conference I will enjoy in the good ole USA. So we watched conference at our local chapel and it was through the Internet. Lets just say the Internet was not that good. It fell through a few times during the transmission and I had to watch it in Portuguese so it wasn’t quite as good. I hardly got to hear Elder Scotts talk cause the Internet fell through during his talk and it was mostly in Spanish for some reason or another. At least I can understand a good bit of Spanish due to the Portuguese. But still conference was really good despite the trials we had with Internet and what not. My favorite talk was probably from Neil L. Anderson. It really elaborated how our biggest challenge in life is self-control and how we control our bodies. As I teach more and more people about the commandments I can see that all sins are related to our bodies in some form or another. This is due to the fact that we are fallen creatures but we do have the power to overcome this state and learn self-control through the atonement of Jesus Christ.
But conference really was the highlight of the week. We had to go to Sorocaba one day for a mission council due to the fact that most of the zones are now in the interior and not in the capital with the new mission divisions. But it was neat to get to go back there. But that is about all that happened this week. Sadly we didn’t have a baptism even though we had one planned. But this week for sure there will be baptisms!!!! We have one young woman who was a member reference who went to three sessions of conference and really loves the church. We are excited for her! Also please remember to do what the prophets and apostles are asking us and at least pray to show the church to one person before Christmas! I love you all and hope you all have a great week!!!!
Another Good Week
9/30/2013
So it is the start of a new transfer. I am now in Parada Pinto, which is the area I started taking care of last transfer along with the area of Cachoeirinha. So now we moved into the house of Parada Pinto and it was a bit of an adventure. It was clean for the most part but someone left the fridge unplugged for the past 6 weeks and it still had some food in it. I will send pictures of the results in another e-mail but man was it bad. Thankfully we got it all clean and things are much better with that and the house is now in order. But this week we did a little more walking than normal as we are getting fully acquainted with our area and learning just how much time it takes to get from one place to another. So we walked a lot. We did manage to have one more baptism this week and mark several more for the weeks to come. We had one girl go to church that we just invited her to go without teaching a lesson and she went which was really cool. Also a less active went back to church that has a son who needs to be baptized, so we are really excited with all of that. But the name of the man that was baptized this week is called Italo. He looks like he is 14 but really he is 23 and married. His wife is a member who has been less active in the church for some time now. But now he is baptized and the family is coming back to activity in the church. I am happy and doing well. Only 4 months left now and it should pass by quite quickly I am sure. I love you all and I hope that you all have a great week this week.
Oh and if I do not respond to one of y’alls e-mail it is because I didn’t get it. The server for the church has been having problems and is acting really slow now. So if y’all want me to e-mail you all gotta send e mails at lest one day in advance to be sure I get it! Thanks! I love you all!
With love,
Elder William Shelton
Oh and if I do not respond to one of y’alls e-mail it is because I didn’t get it. The server for the church has been having problems and is acting really slow now. So if y’all want me to e-mail you all gotta send e mails at lest one day in advance to be sure I get it! Thanks! I love you all!
With love,
Elder William Shelton
13 Down, 3 More to Go
9/23/2013
Yep that is right. Yet another transfer has come and gone and now I am only with three left (18 weeks). This past week was a good one. It started out cool and cloudy (perfect for working), then we had two days of hot sun then it was hot and muggy and rainy. But the week still went really well. We had one more baptism this week and we were able to mark a baptism for this next weekend as well with an old investigator that has been taught for some time but we lost contact with him due to work, but now he will be baptized! We also found a family which is really, really special. They are super excited for the church and the mother already knows that the Book of Mormon is true! The only problem is that they have to get married which kinda stinks. But we are working hard and we are really excited for the work that is going on here. Our relationship with bishop is going really well and we are strengthening our relationship with the two bishops every day. But that is about what all is going on me. I am doing fine and I am happy, I am growing a lot every day and I am really excited for all that is still yet to come in the next few months!!! I love you all so much and thanks again for all of the love and support y,all have given me over the years!!! I love you all so much!
With love,
Elder Shelton
With love,
Elder Shelton
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