Week 44

Hanging out with other missionaries after Stake Conference

More missionaries! 

 Trying to stay in shape!  Glad Elder Smith bought some dumbbells!  

Learning all kinds of new things!  Hand washing clothes!  No washing machine.  Jeff says there is always bleach involved!

 Saltillo

On the hills of Saltillo.  A Christ statue similar to the one in Rio, but much smaller. 

Hello Saltillo!   

Happy Elder!

Dear Family and Friends, 

This was another calm and normal week here in Saltillo. It was nice to be able to get another week of work in with Elder Smith! I can´t believe that we have been together for 14 weeks! My mission is only 102 total so I am going to spend a long time with him!  I am coming up on the halfway point very quickly! It´s amazing how fast time goes by when you are working all day everyday for the well being of others. 

This week was highlighted by the new shoes that I bought! I hope that my feet don´t hurt or smell as bad this week! After 10 months, walking in the same shoes multiple miles a day, Elder Smith has told me that my feet smell pretty terrible in the evenings. :)

I also had my last interview with my Mission President, President Rodriguez this past Wednesday. I can´t believe that he only has 2 more months here in Saltillo and then President Cahoon is moving down from Utah to lead the mission! I have really come to admire and love my President, he is incredibly wise and has taught me innumerable things about the Gospel and life in general. 

The best moment of the week was Sunday at stake conference! Elder Smith and I achieved a personal record and a record for our area when we saw that 8 of our investigators came to church! 8!!!! It was incredible! Our man, Francisco, who is doing well, came to church, and is excited to get baptized in a few weeks. We also had a family of 7 that came and we are hoping that they get married and continue to come to church. It is always incredibly gratifying to see the fruits of your labor! Of course, even if they hadn´t come, I would be have been happy with my work because I am giving it my all every day but it was super special to see 8 people join us on Sunday! 

My favorite lesson from the Stake Conference was the talk given by my mission President, President Rodriguez. He spoke about the 5 Prophetic Priorities that the Prophet, Thomas S. Monson, and the members of the Quorum of the 12 Apostles are emphasizing around the world this year. He said that they are stressing that we focus our teaching and personal study in 5 categories, which are:

1. Teaching repentance and baptizing converts. 

2. Temple work and family history work. 

3. Keep the Sabbath Day holy. 

4. Teaching and instructing in the way of the Lord, or by the Spirit. 

5. Having and developing faith in Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ and His Gospel, and His infinite Atonement. 

He spent the majority of his time focused on how we as members of the church need to develop our faith, and make it a daily habit to develop our faith. In order to truly have faith, he shared three attributes or essential aspects of true faith.  He said first, a person that has true faith, has an understanding and the conviction that God and His Son, Jesus Christ exist. Second, this person needs to develop understanding and a conviction of the attributes of God and His Son and the Holy Ghost. Third, also the most important aspect, was that we need to KNOW that our lives and the decisions that we make everyday are in harmony with the will of God and the teachings of His Son, Jesus Christ.

This last aspect really jumped out to me and I would like to stress the importance of it with all of you as well. To have true faith in God and in His Son, Jesus Christ, our lives need to be in harmony with them. In other words, we have to follow the commandments and try our hardest to be like our Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ. Even though we know that we are going to sin and make mistakes, true faith is developed when we try our hardest to be like Him! I want to encourage all of you to continue praying, reading your scriptures, and attending all of the church activities and services that you can attend with these 3 points in mind. Do I really know that God exists? Can I describe his attributes? This character, attitude, and who he really is for me? And finally, is my life in harmony with the Gospel of Jesus Christ and his teachings? I am sure that there is something that we can all improve on so we can become more like him. I invite you all to try to improve a little bit this week and become more like him. 

I know that this work is the work of the Lord! I know he lives! I know that the Church and the Gospel of Jesus Christ have been restored through modern day prophets and that through them, God reveals his will for all of His Children! I love being a missionary and am really enjoying everyday! 

All the best, 

Elder Shipley 

Week 43

 Jeffrey's church building

 Walking the streets of Saltillo in jeans!

 Don't worry...Book of Mormon and name tags still on!

 Building a room on a house.

 Jeffrey's new house.

 Study area

New kitchen!  Wow...he might have to cook now!

Random Trolley Jeffrey found on the street.

Dear Family and Friends, 

This will be a rather short update because this was a calm week here in Saltillo with my son Elder Smith.  I am so grateful to be able to stay with him for another transfer! We are going to spend almost 1/5 of our missions together! 

This week, we finally were able to do some service and helped one of our investigators move to a new house and build a room for his new house! It was a lot of fun to hang out in the streets in my BYU shirt and jeans! However, the sun is super strong here so we had some pretty rough sunburns as well. 

This week, we had a ward activity and watched, Meet the Mormons, I would really recommend that you all watch it. Even if you have seen it! The last part, which explains the life of a missionary mom definitely gets you when you are a missionary. Miss you Mom! :) 

The most spiritual part of this week is when we met a new man, named Francisco Javiar, who went to church with his friend from a different ward. Turns out, after Elder Smith and I had met him, that he lives in our area! After lunch on Sunday, we went to visit him, and he shared with us an incredible life story.  He has been struggling with trials. He mentioned that he had been robbed, assaulted, watched his son die, and that his wife left him. However, he also said he has an enormously strong desire to change his life and improve. 

We shared with him some scriptures about the power of the Atonement of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and assured this elderly gentleman that he can repent to change his life and find the strength he needs to overcome his trials and have the peace he is seeking. This man said he wanted to be baptized in a few weeks and continue accompanying us to church. 

I love lessons and moments like this. My companion, Elder Smith said it well when he said, "man, when we have lessons like this, we know that we are doing our job."  I love my mission and am learning so much. Every day my testimony grows stronger and I know that Jesus Christ is the savior of all of us. It doesn´t matter if you are 8 or 78, you can use the power of the Atonement and the process of repentance to become clean again. 

Have a great week!

Elder Shipley 

Week 42

Jeff's District 

 The Zone!

 Jeff with Elder Smith ad Elder Newman

 Jeff threw up in the street and came up smiling!

 The baptism of Mayra Rivas

 Hiking on P-day in the hills about Saltillo

Dear Family and Friends,

Today is transfer day here in Saltillo! We found out this morning that I am going to stay here with my companion Elder Smith for another 6 weeks in the Corona Ward! I am SO EXCITED! Our other companion, Elder Domiciano is changing areas but staying in the zone. Elder Smith and I are going to be the only 2 missionaries in the ward so we are going to have a very large area and a lot of responsibility but we are very happy and grateful to be able to stay together for 6 more weeks. 

This week was incredibly difficult to be honest. On Tuesday, I went to another area on splits and walked for about 4 hours straight without a single door opening for us. I also found out that my companion Elder Smith threw up and got sick on Tuesday so Wednesday we stayed in the house until 5pm. Then Thursday, I felt pretty bad in the morning but powered through our study and planning session and even made it to lunch with the family in the ward but about 15 minutes after we had finished lunch, I threw up all over the street and we had to go back to the house and rest. After sleeping for 15 hours straight I woke up Friday and we finally were able to work and teach like normal. Friday was also very difficult because after a week without working, we had very few appointment scheduled. 

However, Saturday morning, we were able to see a true miracle of the mission and the power of the Holy Ghost in action. Elder Smith and I were about to finish the last session of his training, we were doing practice baptismal invitations when I received a text message. I didn´t pay attention at first because I wanted to focus on the practices. However, Elder Smith left for a second and I checked my phone and it was perhaps the most beautiful text message that I have ever seen in my life. 

Sister Mayra Rivas, the mother of William, and the daughter of Alberta (our baptism from last week) sent me a message that said, ¨can I still get baptized today¨? I started jumping up and down and shouting for joy because I was SUPER EXCITED! Mayra was going to get baptized in February with her son, and then later committed to get baptized with her mom, however, both times, she told us that she didn't feel ready and wanted to wait more time. We, of course, accepted and respected her answer, and continued inviting her to pray and read her scriptures and to ponder the wonderful blessings that she will receive if she decides to follow the example of our Savior and be baptized. 

This was one of the largest surprises of my mission! I was certain that Mayra was going to get baptized someday, but I truly didn't know when. We were with her and her family on Wednesday and she told us that she still needed more time, so we told her to tell us when she was ready and WOW! Saturday was the day! We started scrambling to prepare everything! And just as always here, we had to empty the baptismal font by hand, prepare the program, and call a bunch of people so that Mayra could have a special experience. 

The baptismal service that we held on Saturday night was truly the sweetest ending to one of the most difficult weeks of my mission. Once again, William, with the nicknames I gave him "pure power" or "power punch" entered the baptismal font for the second time in 6 days but this time with his mother. It was so special! 

The testimonies that the members of the Rivas family shared were so awesome. I was very excited to hear the experiences and testimonies of this great family. I was also still very curious as to why Mayra had to decided to change her mind and get baptized and was hoping that she would share what happened in between Wednesday and Saturday. 

She explained that she had followed our advice to pray to find out when she should get baptized and described her experience. She said that during her prayers, she had felt such a strong desire to get baptized that it made her cry. She then prayed again to make sure and felt the same desire, so strong that she knew she had to get baptized. It was so special to be able to see and feel her testimony. After 2 months waiting and not knowing, she was finally able to join her son and mother as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and yesterday received the Holy Ghost. 

On Saturday evening, I was talking with Elder Smith, just like a Father and son chat ;) and said that it was amazing to me how incredibly difficult a week can be, yet end with one of the most spiritual experiences of my mission. I think the closing comment of the testimony of William/¨pure power¨ summed up the entire experience. He said, ¨thanks to the answer that my mom received, and the decision that she took to be baptized, we are going to be an eternal family¨. It was beautiful phrased and I hope that in a year right before I finish my mission, I can accompany this wonderful family to the temple so that they can be sealed for time and all eternity. 

Thank you for all of your support and love, 

Elder Shipley 

Week 41

 At the church 

Evening on the streets of Saltillo

 Walking to Conference

 More photos

 The taxi driver who drove them to Conference and then joined them for the afternoon Sunday session. 

 Hanging out in the Mission Office

The hills of Saltillo

 William and his Grandma Alberta

Picture in the building 

Family picture outside the church building

Dear Family and Friends, 

For most of the week, I was working with my half transfer companion, Elder Domiciano from Brazil. He is the only Brazilian in the mission and I am learning a little bit of Portuguese! Elder Smith spent Monday-Thursday with one of the assistants to the President.  On Friday morning, Elder Smith returned to my area in Corona and we continued working as a trio. It is really different working in a trio and we have had to adjust but it has gotten better! 

Our weekend was the best! The highlights were General Conference and also by the BAPTISM we had last night! General conference is so special and even more as a missionary. I learned so much and had many of my questions answered! 

I loved the talks on Saturday about forgiveness, humility, the talk by President Uchdorf about happiness, and many others. The Priesthood session on Saturday evening was even more special because I got to watch it in English!  I loved hearing the voices of the Apostles and learned how I can be a better leader by being a better follower of Jesus Christ. 

However, perhaps the most special moment of the weekend was the baptismal service that we held last night at our chapel. It was incredibly special because our convert, William, who was baptized at the end of February, baptized his Grandma! I was SO happy and almost cried when I saw one of my best friends, William, who is 16 years old and authorized to baptized with the Aaronic Priesthood, lead his grandmother into the font and performed the ordinance. When his grandmother, Berta, had been baptized and they started to exit the font, William said, "Welcome Grandma"! It was one of the most powerful moments I have had on my mission. Afterwords, I gave him a huge hug and picked him up, even though he was soaking wet. It didn't matter that I also got soaking wet because I was so proud of him and all of the great steps he is taking to serve a mission and return to our Heavenly Father. 

I learned a great lesson from this experience and want to share a scripture to help explain it. In Alma 26: 1-3:

 1 And now, these are the words of Ammon to his brethren, which say thus: My brothers and my brethren, behold I say unto you,how great reason have we to rejoice; for could we have supposed when we started from the land of Zarahemla that God would have granted unto us such great blessings?

 2 And now, I ask, what great blessings has he bestowed upon us?Can ye tell?

 3 Behold, I answer for you; for our brethren, the Lamanites, werein darkness, yea, even in the darkest abyss, but behold, how manyof them are brought to behold the marvelous light of God! Andthis is the blessing which hath been bestowed upon us, that wehave been made instruments in the hands of God to bring about this great work.

Ammon asks his brethren, did you ever think we would receive such wonderful blessings from the Lord? However, he doesn't let his brethren answer the question and just shares with them the answer. He said that the greatest blessing that these great missionaries had received from the Lord is that they were "instruments in the hands of God". 

That is truly all that I and my companions are for 2 years. We spend all of our time serving the people of Mexico and helping them come unto Christ through faith, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and Enduring to the end. This past weekend, and especially last night during the baptism, I truly felt grateful for the opportunity to serve a mission for the people of Mexico, for people like William who accept the Gospel and help others come unto Christ, and to serve with all of my heart for Our Heavenly Father. It is truly a blessing to be here and I will be forever thankful! 

Have a great week! 

Elder Shipley 

Week 40

 At the airport with the Assistant to the President, who was Jeff's Zone Leader in Piedras.

 Peter Piper Pizza!

 Elder Martinez and Elder Shipley out on the streets of Saltillo

 Hanging in the hospital with a sick Elder.

 Elder Aguilar before he left to another area.

 Saltillo Sunrise

Split with Edgar from the ward!

Dear Family and Friends, 

I first would like to wish you all a very Happy Easter! I hope you all enjoyed this wonderful holiday and the opportunity that we have to remember the Atonement of our Savior! Here in Mexico, the locals celebrate the ¨Semana Santa¨ or the Holy Week here. The whole week there were a bunch of parades and celebrations to help the people remember our Savior.  

However, I really didn´t have a lot of time to appreciate the cultural activities that were happening around me because I received a new companion! My new companion is Elder Domiciano, from Brazil! He is the only Brazilian in the entire mission! I spent my language study time studying Portuguese and it is really similar to Spanish! 

I am going to be in a trio for the last 2 weeks of this transfer with Elder Smith and Elder Domiciano. Due to a series of poor decisions made by a few Elders and Sister missionaries in my zone, we had ¨small transfers¨ during the middle of the transfer. 

During a 24 hour period in between Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday afternoon, I had 4 different companions, visited the hospital to check on Elder Domiciano, the mission offices, and also went to the airport for the first time since I arrived here in Saltillo in August. 

I would like to share how I felt and what I learned from my trip to the airport, and how we can apply it to our lives. I went on Tuesday morning with one of the Assistants to the President of the Mission to the airport, to drop off an Elder that was being sent home for disobedience. This Elder was a member of my district and also a personal friend. I will never forget the abundance of emotion that I felt when I returned to the airport for the first time since August. I initially remembered how nervous I was when I arrived in the airport back in August, and how ready I was to finally start working in the mission field. I also remember being really confused because I still didn´t understand Spanish, it is incredible to see all my progress in 8 months!

However, I was also filled with sorrow for this Elder and for the other missionaries that were going to return home early. I will never forget the look of the Elder as we said goodbye and wished each other good luck. It was a look of sorrow and distress for what could have been. I learned about the importance of the decisions that we make every day. The famous quote by President Monson came to mind, ¨Decisions Determine Destiny¨. This Elder´s destiny was changed because of the decisions that he made. However, what he told me as we said goodbye will always stay with me. He said, "I will see you in a year," best of luck. 

I learned that sometimes we make mistakes that change our course. An example could be this Elder that of course wanted to stay and finish out his mission but couldn´t. However, the Atonement of Jesus Christ, his suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane, his suffering and death on the cross, and his resurrection the third day give each of us hope and the chance to repent of our sins. 

Even though Easter has already passed, I want to encourage you all to reflect on the quote, ¨Decisions Determine Destiny¨ and if the decisions that you are making every day make you happy or sad. Closer to our Father in Heaven or if they drag you farther away from him. I have a strong testimony that we will all have an opportunity to repent and change our lives. Just because we make a mistake does not mean that our eternal destiny is changed, just that we have to correct a few things to get back on the path that takes us to our Heavenly Father. I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is true and that Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer. I know that we can all change something or improve something in our daily lives to become more like the Savior, it just depends on us if we are willing to make the change to be more happy. 

Have a great week and enjoy General Conference and the Final Four! 

Elder Shipley 

Week 39

Jeff spends a ton of time on the phone calling other missionaries and members in his "district".

In their apartment

Looking over Saltillo

And...there are even horses in Saltillo!

Jeff's "Heaven" room (Mom thinks his hair is very short!)

Event Helpers

Dear Family and Friends, 

This was a good week!  Today doesn't really feel like Monday because the week went by so fast. I was coughing and had a headache for much of it, so that slowed us down but we never stopped because everyday on the mission is super important! 

The highlight of the week was the ward missionary activity that Elder Smith, Elder Domiciano, Elder Aguilar, and I planned and held on Friday night! It was an incredible activity and I have to give a big shout out and muchas gracias to Elder Augilar and Domiciano because they planned most of it! We had about 120 people attend! It was great! 

The activity was called the "Trip to Hawaii".  We separated everyone in groups of about 40 and sat them in chairs in the hallways that resembled the inside of a plane. Then we simulated a plane ride with sounds and some young women from the ward helped us by being flight attendants. Then, we simulated a plane crash and accident with a smoke machine and everything and it was super cool!   We then talked about what it would be like after we die.  

I was in the Celestial kingdom (heaven), so there was cake, comfy chairs, and I gave a message in my white baptismal clothes. I explained that the celestial kingdom is where God and Jesus Christ will dwell someday and that we can all return to the presence of our Heavenly Father with our families if we follow the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We need to develop faith in Jesus Christ, repent, be baptized, receive the Holy Ghost, and endure to the end. If we follow these steps, and receive the ordinances of the gospel, we can be clean from sin and return to the Celestial Kingdom! This should be the goal that we all share! 

As it says in the Doctrine and Covenants 76 verse 62: "These shall dwell in the presence of God and his Christ forever and ever". The group of people that are being referred to, is the people that have followed Jesus Christ, accepted his Gospel, and endured to the end! 

This promise brings me a lot of joy and peace. Imagine how great it will be in the Celestial Kingdom with our families!  That makes the effort and time to do the little things like read in the scriptures daily, pray daily, and attend church worth it. If we do the small things that God asks us to do we will be happy! 

Much love! Have a great week!

Elder Shipley 

Week 38

Elder Smith's Birthday "cake" and sign! 

"The last house on the road out of town!"

 Birthday candles in Mexico!

 The first cake in the face!

  The rest of the missionaries there to celebrate!

The baptism of the family of 5 (Jeff is the tall one)

 Cake up the nose #2!

 Celebrating at church!

 Sunset in Saltillo

More Sunset in Saltillo!

Dear Family and Friends, 

This was a super special week! I turned 20 on Friday! How crazy is that?! This week was filled with a lot of great moments! On Tuesday, I went on splits with another Elder named Elder Villeda and worked in the area of Ramos Arizpe. We had a great day. In the evening, I was able to meet the family of five that he and his companion, Elder Daines were going to baptize on Saturday! I was very excited to meet them and we had a great lesson. At the end of the lesson, Elder Villeda asked the 5 members of the family who they wanted to baptize them. The family mentioned the Bishop of the Ramos Arizpe Ward, Elder Daines, Elder Villeda, my mission president, President Rodriguez (because he was the one who contacted them in an airport), and they were missing one person to baptize the middle daughter. They looked at me and said, "we want the Elder from Washington to baptize her!" I was shocked and didn't know what to say! After checking to make sure it was ok, I gratefully accepted the invitation! Then on Saturday, I had the wonderful opportunity to be a part of the baptism of this family! I also got to baptize with the President of my mission! It was a super special birthday gift that I am never going to forget! Afterwards we got to eat dinner with them and it was one of the most special days that I have had on my mission! 

Wednesday and Thursday were fairly terrible days and were very cold. It was raining all day and I had on 2 or 3 jackets just to keep warm! 

Friday was my birthday!!! I woke up and my companion made me a "cake", basically he put 6 cookies on a plate.... haha I love Elder Smith! But later in the day, I got to experience how Mexicans celebrate birthdays! I learned what the "mordita" is!  It is a Mexican tradition that those who are celebrating with you start to chant, "mordita", which means,"little bite"!  You then put your face next to the cake to eat a small bite of the cake without a fork and someone else smashes your face in the cake! It happened twice on Friday! I think I still have cake in my nose! 

However, in the afternoon, Elder Smith and I went to visit a family that we have known for almost 2 months here. They always let us in, always listen to us, but never come to church! We decided to stop teaching them for a few weeks, but then went back to see how they were doing. Well, we sat down with them, and I wasn't sure what to teach, once again, my companion Elder Smith was very in tune with the spirit and said, "let's teach about keeping the Sabbath Day holy".  The lesson turned out great and they really understood the importance of attending church! 

Then my companion mentioned my ward was having a open house of the chapel and invited them to come see the chapel with us and take a tour. They decided to come with us and were able to receive a lesson from the bishop and other members of the ward and see the baptismal font! It was an awesome tour and they are going to come to our missionary activity on Friday and church on Sunday!  

I learned that sometimes we don't receive the blessings that we want exactly how we want them because the Lord knows what we need and when we need it. After reflecting on the week we had last week, perhaps the tour of the church with the Bishop and other members was exactly what this family needed so they can attend church and get baptized someday. 

I hope all is well back home and that you can all enjoy March Madness! I'll be working down here in Saltillo! I know that the church is true and the Our Savior loves us! 

All the best, 

Elder Shipley