04/03/17 - Wilmington, North Carolina

Wow, I LOVED this week!! Haha it was definitely my favorite week of the mission! Last Monday started it all off well as we went to get lunch at the food court in the mall. As we stood in line waiting to order our food, I started up a conversation with the man standing next to us in line. We began to talk and I eventually invited him to come sit with us to have lunch! His name is Jeffrey and he is awesome! He is an American plummer that speaks Spanish! We talked over lunch and eventually got his number. He said that we could come teach him and his family! It was amazing to see how some people are so open to the gospel, we just need to open our mouths to share it!! We had a fun preparation day afterwards as we played some sports at the church. We visited one of our investigators that night and Elder Nadauld said goodbye to her. While we were there she told me that I have a big butt and fatty cheeks! Haha well, she's right. Tuesday was transfer day and it was a blast!! We pulled up to the church and saw so many missionaries we love! I tried to take pictures with as many of them as possible. There are some great missionaries out here!! It was weird to see Hermana Reich and the people going home! I feel like I just barely came out of the Mexico MTC with her and now she is home! I've officially completed my sister mission!! What a strange thought.. I continued to talk to different people and just as I was finishing taking a picture with someone, I saw him: Elder Brezenski. The man, the myth, the legend!! He just got done being the assistant and now he is serving as zone leader with me! What a blessing it has been. We drove back down to Wilmington and had a great first day. We did a lot of knocking and we found a Hispanic by the name of Evelyn! She is awesome!! She came out onto her porch and we taught her a whole restoration. She is willing to act on the message! We later found a YSA investigator by the name of Uniqua. Haha she was standing in the parking lot and as we approached her, she got startled and began to wave her arms around in some kind of Karate move! Haha it was awesome. The following day we went to district meeting here in Wilmington and we have a great district! Elder Johns our district leader gave a great instruction and it was a great meeting overall! We took a language study after the meeting and I have been teaching Elder Brezenski to speak Swahili! He is picking it up quickly! We then visited an investigator at his work and had a quick lesson about the importance of the Book of Mormon and personal prayer. He committed to do both! Mama Arne, one of the best members ever, ordered us some pizza and sent it to our house for dinner. She ordered each of us our own pizza!! We had a good lesson that night with Bernardo, a Hispanic investigator. He has not been reading the Book of Mormon or keeping any commitments so we sat down and talked with him about it. We committed him to started reading, praying, and coming to church! We have high hopes for him. We did a lot of tracting on Thursday and while doing so, we met a man who tried to convince us that aliens are real! He was pretty detailed with his arguments that's for sure.. We met a YSA that told us he has been looking for a church! He asked us many questions and is very interested in coming to church! We did some weekly planning afterwards and some planning for an instruction! We then took the drive up to Raleigh to spend the night with the assistants for a meeting the following day. Friday we had leadership training meeting! Elder Brezenski and I were asked to instruct on exchanges and we felt it went fairly well! President later commented to Elder Brezenski that there was great electricity between us during the instruction! We drove home from the meeting and got home so late that we had to skip dinner! Right as we got back we went out on exchanges with a YSA and we took him tracting! We had a fun time meeting some drunk people and getting some doors slammed in our faces ha! We then tried to visit some of our Congolese, but Johnny wasn't able to make it so we had to speak with the Congolese by ourselves! We apologized for not being able to teach them and rescheduled for another time. The Swahili is actually coming! I am to the point where I can understand pretty much everything they speak to me, but it is difficult replying.. We did some more tracting to end the night and we found Kate, a YSA new investigator! We are really trying to find God's elect and are asking inspired questions on the door to do so such as "If God told you to change something about your life, would you?" Saturday was an incredible day as we began General Conference!! We gave a few Priesthood blessings before the first session and had 10 minutes to spare so we ran to knock some doors! That is something that I love about this companionship, we are so dedicated!! We literally do not waste a minute in the Lord's work. We get out 5 minutes early, we use any spare minute to knock a door, and all along the way we are smiling, laughing, and having a great time!! General Conference was just outstanding. So many of my specific questions were answered, I'm sure many of you felt the same! We ate so much food in between sessions.. Some members took us out to a pizza buffet for lunch and a different member took us out to Golden Corral for dinner. Whoo, I was sooo full! And after listening to conference, I was spiritually full too!! My favorite talk on Saturday was President Nelson's talk about receiving power! Sunday was equally amazing as we again spiritually feasted! Following the first session, we were introduced to a young man by the name of Devonte. A member in the Hampstead ward has known Devonte for about a year and a half and has shared the Book of Mormon with him! Devonte has read much in the book and has even began to read the Doctrine and Covenants! He told us that he already knows it's true and he wants to be baptized!! We set a date for him for the 22nd of this month and we are excited to watch him follow his Savior. He has a speech impediment and requested a Priesthood blessing before we left. He had the faith and believed that it would heal him! We gladly gave him the blessing and immediately after, his stutter was gone!! I testify in the name of Jesus Christ that miracles do work. They are truly wrought by the power of our faith. With an increased sense of determination to serve God, we then left to find more of His children. We returned to the church to watch the final session of conference and  I was so sad when it ended! I wish it could've just kept going forever!! We visited our Congolese and had a great lesson as we taught two new people about the restoration, Smiley and Manasseh! They loved it and agreed to read and pray about the Book of Mormon! Just as our beloved Prophet shared, the Book of Mormon is so key to conversion!! We must read it and pray about it to know that it is true! As we receive that divine witness, we will come to know that the church is of God! This is truly His kingdom on Earth! I testify that there is no greater work than this on all the face of the planet. We must be about our Father's business.

Consecrating every second to God,
Elder Shearer