Rear Tire is Toast...

Raleigh, North Carolina Skyline

Hi Family!

We found four new investigators this week!  One is a recovering drug addict living in a recovery home, and three others are all young college guys who actually found us and called us into their house because they wanted to hear what we had to say.  We actually tracted into them earlier and they weren't interested, but when we were biking in that area the other day one of them came out and invited us inside.  Our last "find" is also a young college guy who has friends on missions.  The Lord is always preparing His children.  The girl we found a few weeks ago, "H" is progressing well.

I'm not sure what we are doing for PDay this week, we usually wing it; there is a zone activity, but it is falling apart at the seams as we speak.

I got hit by a car on my bike this week and the rear tire is toast :(

Scripture for the week:  Alma 26:35  Now have we not reason to rejoice?  Yea, I say unto you, there never were men that had so great reason to rejoice as we, since the world began; yea, and my joy is carried away, even unto boasting in my God; for he has all power, all wisdom, and all understanding; he comprehendeth all things, and he is a merciful being, even unto salvation, to those who will repent and believe on his name.

If you had $50 extra dollars and had no restrictions, what would you buy?  A mini pocket set of scriptures.

What did you eat for all three meals yesterday?  Haha, I fasted, so not the best day for that question, but the usual is:

• Breakfast:  Spinach/berry/banana protein shake
• Lunch:  A panini with various items on it
• Dinner:  Member food or the leftovers given last time.  I have honestly been eating pretty well and healthy, wrestling has paid off.  Elder Lofgreen is a good cook too, so we have had homemade pot stickers and other good stuff that I can't remember at this moment.

Hope y'all have a great week!
Elder Jake

Defying Gravity...

Our new favorite thing to do on PDay

Me with President and Sister James at Duke Gardens

Elders Weiss, Smyly and Me

Hi Everybody!

This last week went so much better.  We were able to teach people this week and find!  Hopefully, we can keep the ball rolling into the coming weeks.

We met with "H" again yesterday, we discussed more of the Plan of Salvation and the diffrence between the trinity and the Godhead.  She has a really good returned missionary friend so he will be a huge help for her.

Also, one of "H's" friends, that she brought to our discussion, is now investigating and we found two older women who we will also be teaching!

One fun thing that we have been doing for Pday is going to "Defy Gravity", it is a trampoline/sports arena.  Not as good as "Airborn", but we love it.

Spiritual Experience for the week:  I was praying about how we could best help "H", address her concerns and teach her and I had a picture come to mind of what we needed to do, I have it drawn out, but I don't have a picture of it, I will send one.

Funny Experience:  I can't really write it down but me and Elder Lofgreen just have a good time together, lots of little funny things.

Scripture for the week:  Alma 5:26  And now behold, I say unto you, my brethren, if ye have experience a change of heart, and if ye have felt to sing the song of redeeming love, I would ask, can ye feel so now?  We have all felt the change of heart at some point, that is why we are here.

If you had $10 dollars left in your account for the whole month, what would you buy?  A big 10 lb bag of pancake mix, the krusteaz, kind that are cheap and big, so I could live off that for awhile.

My District:  Our district leader is Elder Widdison, he is very short, and big into scouting; his companion is Elder Clifford who is a redneck.  Elder Smyly is a pokemon geek like me; his comp is Elder Tellez.  Sister Bluemel who leaves next week, because her visa expires (from Canada) her comp is Sister Peterson, who is quiet, but starting to come out of her shell.  Sister Trawick who is a greenie, her trainer Sister Smoot, who doen't really talk much.  Elder Lofgreen and Me.

Have a great week!
Elder Jake

MOTHER'S DAY!!!

Nobody appreciates Mother's Day like a missionary mom!  For our family it is one of the few times over the next several years that we all get to be in one (virtual) room and have one conversation all together.  Google Hangouts is my new best friend, as we were able to all connect for a sweet hour of joy.  Tyler was even able to facetime the call making our family hour complete.
Most of all, it was just so good to see Jake, his smile, his personality, and get a sense that he is actually as happy as he looks.  The South is a tough mission, but this guy seems to take it all in stride.  He loves his companion and gets a lot of support from the ward mission leader.  (Matt Clawson, from the Raleigh First Ward, thanks for hosting the missionary calls!)

Here's Jake's letter:

It was so great to see everyone!  Everyone looks so good!

The lesson went very well last night :)  We taught the restoration/plan of salvation jumbled into one! The main concern that "H" has, is that she believes she has already been saved (shocker) and that she doesn't need anything more to be saved.  We taught about baptism and she is willing to read and pray about the Book of Mormon.  She brought her very Baptist friend, which made things a bit more difficult, but they definitely were taught the truth; the spirit was present.  Pray for them that they will let the seed sprout :)

Scripture for the week:  Alma 19:16-17  Abish was a great missionary who was  praying for her people, her prayers were answered through Alma and she helped bring to pass much righteousness. The Lord was preparing people to receive the word and she was preparing herself so that when the time came for her to share, she was ready to help.

Love you all,
Elder Shields

New Comp, Elder Lofgreen...

New Companion, Elder Zach Lofgreen

Hey Everybody,

So last week was transfers and my new comp is Elder Lofgreen.  He is from Alaska.  He is a gymnast and a snowboarder, and he likes hunting.  We get along very well.  I saw Elder Hampton at tranfers and we talked for a little bit, and I saw Elder Garrick, we chatted and he is going to Cary.  Elder Hampton and Elder Norris are now companions.

Still no info on the Mother's Day call.

Teaching Update:
We found no families and dropped the one we were teaching.  "M" is a young lady who we talked with and shared the restoration briefly, and said she was going through a hard time and that we came at an opportune time.  "B" is a young college student who is currently majoring in English, and "S" is a college student at St. Augustine.

I turned the calendar page yesterday and was happy to see Jane and Lucy.  (I saw Lucy in the New York photo, she is so fat!)

Spiritual Experience:
We said a very specific prayer this week that we could a least talk to someone nice while tracting and it was answered.  We talked to someone who was nice and interested.

Scripture for the week:
Alma 14:6  Godly sorrow is a very important thing, our physical bodies show pain in order to protect us from physical harm, and our spirit also exhibits pain to protect us from spiritual danger.  many people have numbed themselves to godly sorrow and don't experience it as they should because they have been desensitized to spiritual matters.  Don't do that, keep the sensitivity!

love y'all,
Jake

Three in a Row...

Elders Smyly, Clifford and Me

Elders Norris, Weiss, Smyly, Me and Brown

Hi Family,

A good story:
This last transfer was my hardest by far , but this last Saturday made up for it completely.  We were following up with a potential and it ended up falling through and not working out, so we were about to leave and I got the impression that we needed to stay and tract the opposite side of the street.  The first door we knock on we find a great young man whose girlfriend is taking the missionary lessons and he was interested himself and was wanting to get a hold of the Book of Mormon. We taught him a little bit and setup a return appointment.  The next door we knock on is a young women who has met with missionaries before, but is worried about church because she believed her last church to be true, but didn't feel that it was, and she didn't want to go through one of those experiences again.  We shared with her our testimonies and gave her a pamphlet of the testimony of Joseph Smith and told her to read it and we would check up with her again.  The next door we knock on is another young woman who was very energetic and taught her a short lesson and she accepted to go to church this coming Sunday.

After we walked away from all of that we were just blown away!  I have never had a more successful hour and a half in my mission up to this point.  It is amazing how the Lord works through ignorant young men such as us to proclaim His Gospel, and what's more amazing is the He makes it work.

love to all,
Jake

Pizza and a Phone Call...

One way to talk to your son.

Got a letter from Jake this week that didn't really say too much and thought he was feeling a little down, so we ordered up Dominos for him.  The delivery time was set for 9:30, and at 9:31 I received a phone call from the delivery guy saying that no one was home.  He agreed to wait for five minutes.  Five minutes later, still no Jake.  I kept him on the phone for a bit, hoping Jake would show up.  It worked!  Jake showed up and I asked the delivery guy to just verify it was Jake Shields.  He asked, "Are you Jake Shields?" Jake responded, "Yeah."  The delivery guy then handed Jake the phone and said, "Here, your Mom wants to talk to you!"

It was not a lie.  I did want to talk to him, but I never would have asked.  But hey, who am I to turn a tender mercy away?  Jake had just returned from a lesson that had just come up during the day.  He was upbeat and excited about the prospects of this new investigator.  It did my mother's heart good to hear his upbeat voice after a letter that indicated otherwise.  Bon Appetit Jake!

The Angry Face...

The Angry Face...when an investigator drops us =/

Me and Elder Norris making pizza at a
recent convert's home

Elders Norris, Shields, Searle, Smyly and Weiss

Hello Family,

My favorite Conference talk was President Uchtdorf's in the priesthood session; it just really spoke to me and brought me comfort.  I also really liked Elder Oaks talk about opposition of the spirit and flesh  because it is related to what I am studying.  We watched conference at the Stake Center.

It is going fine with just Elder Norris, he is much more of a free spirit than Elder Searle or I, but we get along just fine.

I had a cool experience this week.  I felt impressed that we need to focus on working down near the college and we did, and we have started finding much more success!  it was pretty cool :)  We found four new investigators this week!

We don't eat at members very often, probably twice a week.

I am loving the calendar, I still haven't looked ahead!

Have a great week, love ya,

Elder Shields