05/15/17 - Raleigh, North Carolina

Oh my goodness gracious, that was a week full of learning, new experiences, and joyous memories! Last Monday we had an office meeting wherein President James, Sister James, us, and the office staff all get together and we discuss the administrative needs of the mission. We had a great time together and then went to pick up the new missionaries from the airport! What a special memory that was! They were all very nervous and we took each of them around the airport to do some contacting. They did great! We got their luggage and drove back to the mission home! We had a wonderful dinner provided by our office staff as well as my personal favorite, nanner puddin'!! A testimony meeting then took place and we were able to testify to these new missionaries of the blessings and joys that come as we serve our missions! We got home pretty late that night and then had to wake up extra early to be able to get to the mission home and wake them up at 6:30! The signature breakfast was provided (oat waffles with ice cream, apple sauce, and a special kind of syrup) and it was delicious! After breakfast we carried them all in our van to the church and we had a few meetings for both the trainers and the trainees. It was a pleasure to instruct them at both! All the transferring missionaries then got to the church and we helped them find their new companions! It was fun to see all of my favorite missionaries!! I have come to love literally every missionary in this mission, they are doing great things being out here on a mission! After sending them all away to their new areas, we gathered the departing missionaries in our van and we drove them to the mission home. We had a party! We had a delicious dinner, played a lot of ping pong, and had a powerful testimony meeting. It was incredible to see the difference in testimonies from the night before. Such strong missionaries. The mission is going to miss those great examples of obedience and hard work! We continued to play ping pong after the testimony portion and President even got in on the action. He's pretty good! We ended up going to bed around 2 in the morning and then woke up at 4 to take them all to the airport! After helping them get through security, we traveled back to the mission home and updated the transfer board in President's office. We were so tired!! We hadn't slept in days! We finished the board, cleaned up the mission home, quickly ran to the store to buy groceries and then went home to take a President James approved nap. I guess it's a tradition that every Wednesday after transfers the assistants take a short nap! Even though it was only an hour, it was wonderful! We woke up, ran to the office to update a few things, and then went to teach the gospel! The first investigator that I met here in Falls Lake was Rich, he is extraordinary! He has read through the Book of Mormon once and is now reading it again! He has a baptismal date for June 10th and he is going to make it for sure! He has a powerful testimony of the Book of Mormon and of the restoration! It was a blast to teach someone so elect!! The following day I met even more elect people! After having gone to the office in the morning to plan out some things, we visited Mike! Elder Barlow tracted into him the week before I got here and had shared the restoration with him. Upon our return, Mike had taken a pad of paper and had written out a list of questions to ask! He is so prepared!! The Spirit was abundant and he very firmly agreed to come to church! I asked him if he would get baptized upon receiving a confirmation from God that this church is true and his answer was "Well, I would have to!" We are excited to watch him progress! I then got to meet a Russian investigator by the name of Yulia, she is great! She has been meeting with missionaries since December and is all ready for baptism, she is just waiting for an answer! She is progressing and now believes that God not only can answer her prayers, but that He will! A neat experience happened in our lesson with her this week. We were teaching her about the Spirit World and we had explained that it is a place of waiting, a place where those that have died can learn of the gospel and accept baptism through our proxy work. She wasn't agreeing with a lot of doctrine having to do with the Spirit World, but all of a sudden she stopped mid-sentence and said in her thick Russian accent, "Wow! I see it now. I understand what it is that you are talking about." She continued by explaining that 15 years ago she had had a dream wherein she saw her deceased father and grandfather. They looked pale and sad. There was a beautiful purple door with light coming from the other side of it, but they told her that they couldn't' move towards it. They told her that they were waiting. 15 years later that dream was brought to her remembrance and she then understood not only the doctrine of the Spirit World, but the need to be baptized in behalf of our dead. We feel she is very close to baptism and will make it there shortly! Finishing the night, we visited one more investigator and he told me that he thinks I should be on a toothpaste commercial! Haha not the job of my dreams, but we'll see what happens! Friday we had a leadership training meeting and thankfully everything ran smoothly! I instructed on what information needs to be communicated between leaders and the most effective way to do so! We were blessed to hear from President James as he gave an incredible instruction on how to be a good leader. He is one of the best! I received a tender mercy during the meeting, we were talking about the influence we can have on our missionaries by going on exchanges with them and an Elder there shared a story. He explained that early in his mission he was pretty disobedient and he didn't have a desire to do many things. He went on to share the story of an exchange he went on with me during that time of his mission. He explained that I taught him that we can still be "cool" while being obedient. He said I taught him how to have real joy while doing the work and what fun on the mission looks like. It seemed to have really impacted him, yet all I remember was trying to lift and inspire him! It is amazing how the Lord will magnify us and will make our influence to be great when we simply show up and have the courage to open our mouths! After the meeting we went out to work and began to knock doors! We quickly felt that we weren't in the right area so we said a prayer and felt that we needed to start driving north! We began to drive and did our best to follow the promptings of the Holy Ghost. We found ourselves in a very nice neighborhood and as we drove along, a white truck stood out to me and I told Elder Barlow that we needed to stop and talk to the family in that home! We knocked on the door and a man immediately let us in! We quickly discovered that he was actually a member of the church! He asked us what brought us to his home and we told him that we were on an errand for the Lord. The family gathered together and let us know that they were in need of a message. We opened the Book of Mormon and 3 Nephi 22:10 came to mind. As we shared the powerful verses, the Spirit engulfed the room and the mother began to cry. We testified of our Savior and felt to promise very specific blessings. As we did so, the mother began to cry harder and after a few moments of sitting in silence, she looked up at us through her tears and said "You're like a little prophet!" We asked to have a prayer with them and as the father offered it, he too was brought to tears and it was a tender moment. We left that home not knowing exactly what we had just been a part of, but we knew that the Lord will guide us to those in need. If we simply listen for his voice, we will be lead! Imagine the miracles that would happen if Elders quorum presidents or home teachers were to devote a night to prayerfully visiting families in need! We tracted the rest of the night and felt the Spirit abundantly. Saturday morning we had our weekly transfer meeting with President and we were able to make a lot of progress with the policy changes we are planning on making to the mission! We had a great lunch with him afterwards thanks to Sister James and my favorite part was the traditional chocolate milk float! We tracted the rest of the day and found a woman by the name of Johneisha! Sunday was outstanding. Both of the wards that we cover here are amazing!! A few of our investigators came to church and they loved it! We were blessed to be able to talk to our families and I wished my mother the biggest happy mother's day!! She is truly such an incredible woman and I am blessed to know her and have her as my own!! It was a great skype call and it was actually my last one of the mission! We were able to share many scriptures and stories and we had a lot of fun. It was a great day and a great week! The best week of my whole mission!! I am loving my time in the Lord's work and I am doing my best to love, cherish, and enjoy every minute of it!

Blessed with the greatest mother of them all,
Elder Shearer

05/08/17 - Raleigh, North Carolina

What a busy week! I don't have a ton of time today to email because I have actually been called to serve as the new assistant to the mission president! A few weeks ago in my interview with President James, he called me to serve with him and I can't believe it's already here! We are on a tight schedule and will be picking up the new missionaries soon, so I will make this quick! I loved this week!! I am loving every minute of the work. It was the best week of my mission!! Last Monday we went frolfing again and then went to buy some snow cones! Haha I got the biggest one they had, it was huge! We taught Kabin later that night, the man that walked into church last Sunday! He is so strong, we taught him the plan of salvation and he is ready for his baptism! The following day, we saw some gators at the park!! They were massive, we took some pictures of them! We then went tracting in downtown Wilmington and we ran into a man that was pretty drunk. He told us that because we were in the hood, someone would either rob us of all of our money or if we didn't have any money, they would kill us! I told him neither of those options sounded pretty good and left him with a card ha! We visited Karen DeMata next and we talked about her getting baptized. She told us that she has been thinking. We asked her about what and she said "I'm going to do it! I'm ready, let's go!" We set a date for this coming Saturday, we are so excited for her! She has had her interview and everything, she is ready and very excited! She even said "I don't know why I waited so long! I guess I was just waiting for the right missionaries." I am so happy for her, she is amazing! We tried to visit a less active that night, but he didn't want anything to do with us! It was so sad to see him reject a message, especially because we could see him fighting the Spirit!! Wednesday was a good day, we went down to district meeting in Southport and we had the meeting on a private beach! It was very nice! We went on exchanges with the Elders there and I brought our district leader to our area! We went tracting in a Hispanic trailer park and found a very elect man! In his prayer at the end he thanked God for "sending [us] to knock on the door of [his] heart!" We tracted the majority of that day and we had both a Jehovah's Witness and a Seventh-day Adventist try to bash us! Too bad we don't bash. We only teach. If the Spirit is not there and their heart is not sincere, we aren't to be found! The following morning we saw some more gators and they were even bigger than before! We saw one gator that was 14 feet long! I got some packages that day and they were great, thanks to my sister and grandma! We visited Karen again and her dad was there too. We've been told that the missionaries have never gotten him to pray before in the three years he’s met with them! I was determined to make it happen. I invited him to offer it and after a little pushing, he did it!! Karen's mouth dropped wide open. None of us could believe that he was actually praying! Brothers and Sisters, miracles happen when we have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and in his ability to prepare the hearts of the children of men. I testify that he does! After meeting with Karen, we visited our Congolese family and let them know about my departure. It was so difficult, I have come to love that family so deeply, it was so hard saying goodbye to them. They were champions though and stayed positive and even tried to encourage me to keep working hard! We visited Jonathan, one of our investigators, the following morning and set a baptismal date with him! Elder Brezenski was so good to me this week. Every second we had during lunch or dinner, I was busy packing so that we wouldn't have to take extra time to do it. He made me food for so many meals! He is such a great example of looking outward and serving others. We met with Jerry again and he said he will finally consider baptism as a possibility! He is seeking an answer from the Lord. We tracted the rest of the night after! I love tracting! Saturday morning we ran on the beach for exercises and it was nice! We went tracting for most of the day and enjoyed every second of it. We visited a part member family and had a great lesson with Brother Moore, the father. He is very open to the message and has a lot of great questions! He even came to church the next day! We visited the Recillas family, a Hispanic family, to say goodbye and we talked about enduring to the end. They are an amazing family! We then got transfer news and sent it all out to our missionaries. We are excited for the upcoming transfer, the zone will do great! Sunday was a marvelous day. We started it off by going to church and getting all the members enthusiastic and excited about missionary work! Sunday is game day to get the members on board! I said my goodbyes to the members and then we ate dinner with the Arne' family. They are amazing! Mama Arne made me some ties too as a going away gift! They are beautiful! We then visited our Congolese family one more time so I could say my final goodbyes and I shared my testimony with them in Swahili. We took a picture and then the Assistants pulled up in the van! We loaded up my stuff and then drove off to Raleigh! Haha after a few minutes of being in the van they initiated me in and the mantle was on! Once we got to Raleigh, we went to the mission office and did the weekly numbers for the mission! I signed my name on the Assistant board and then we drove home. We finally went to bed at 1 in the morning! It was a great week!! I am so happy to be able to be serving with President James! He is truly a man of God.

Getting the mantle on,
Elder Shearer