Go Tar Heels!

My Two Dads! (trainers)

My new area is the Chapel Hill First Ward!  Go Tar Heels!  The most winning sports coach in all history is in our ward.  I love it, this area is great and the ward is super great!

New Address:
108 Shadowood Drive Apt S
Chapel Hill   NC   27514

My new companion is Elder Hancock.  He is from Arizona.  We came out on the same plane.  I love Elder Hancock, he is awesome and a hard worker.  We have a similar sense of humor, we come from different places.  I am a city boy, and he is a farm boy from a cattle ranch.

This is the nicest apartment I have had yet, it has two levels!

The ward is stellar, the wml and the bishop are prime and the members, as far as we can tell, are great.  Both of us are new to the area.

Funny Experience:  The zone leaders have a rubber duck named rico and we stole it.

The teaching pool looks good and has a decent amount of people in it.

Scripture for the week:

Alma 5:14
"And now behold, I ask of you, my brethren of the church, have ye siritually been born of God?  Have you received his image in your countenances?  Have ye experienced this mighty change in your hearts?"

Have a great week,
Elder Shields

Pressing forward...

Hi Guys,

So, for transfers they like do not tell us anything, so all that I know is that I will be getting transferred, and apparently my new companion is someone I know, so we will see.  No ideas where abouts.  elder Lofgreen will be staying and training.  Just about the whole district is leaving.  My thoughts about you going back to work...I say, do it!  I think that would be awesome.

Investigator/Finding Update:  It has been a struggle this week, but things turned better this Sunday.  One of the young women in our ward has a friend she has been working with and there are plans to get to meet her friend and start teaching her.  There was also a man who is not a member who came to church yesterday who has family who are members so, hopefully things go well with him.  I think we'll see some things happening before I leave.

The gross jelly bean?  Elder Lofgreen just shot me with his finger guns.

Scripture for the week:  They are the ones I have symbolism for on my new planner.  I would send a picture of it but.....hopefully we will be picking up my camera today.

Alma 60:23
"Do ye suppose that God will look upon you as guiltless while ye sit still and behold these things?  Behold I say unto you, Nay.  Now I would that ye should remember that God has said that the inward vessel shall be cleansed first, and then shall the outer vessel be cleansed also."

Isaiah 49:15-16
"Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb?  Yeas, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee.
Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me."

Love,
 Jake

"...Perfect love casteth out all fear."

Hi Family,


Haha, that story about Matt made me laugh pretty good.  He wasn't always the most patient human in the world when it comes to children.  Haha, but I'm glad he is trying, so go him!  And tell Sarah that I say boyz r dum.  Haha cuz we are sometimes.  I have no worries about what is ahead in her future.  I am glad the family is doing good, when are your plans to go boating next?

I got all the info, for my debit card, and yes, I know what to do.

Investigator/Finding Update:  We labored long and hard in the hot sweaty sun and found no one.  Haha it's Zion's Camp out here.  There are some people and some referrals we got that we are excited for; I will let you know how those go!

Funny experience:  I gave Elder Lofgreen a really gross jelly bean and it was funny.

Scripture for the week:

Moroni 8:16
"Wo be unto them that shall pervert the ways of the Lord after this manner, for they shall perish except  they repent.  Behold, I speak with boldness, having authority from God; and I fear not what man can do; for perfect love casteth out all fear."

love,

Jake

...You still boat without me???

Hi Guys!

My worst nightmare has been realized!  You still will go boating without me...haha just kidding, that is so fun that you go to go though.  Where did you guys go, was it Echo?  Honestly there is not much to report on this week.  We met a lot of nice people, but none of them were willing to listen, there was actually a string of really nice people we were able to talk with, it was a record streak, but; unfortunately, as I mentioned earlier, none of them were interested which was sad.  We will keep going, and continue to work hard.  I'm pretty sure I will be transferred next transfer to one of the Fayetteville zones, but we will see what the future holds.

I was not able to get my camera back yet, we don't have the car for a good while and the place is not close by.

The scoobies you sent handle the flight over just fine, and yes, you should send them again!

Investigator Update:  Caleb didn't show up for the appointment and we can't get in touch with him.

Scriptures for the week:

Matthew 26:41
"Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation:  the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.

Alma 13:28
But that ye would humble yourselves before the Lord, and call on his holy name, and watch and pray continually, that ye may not be tempted about that which ye can bear, and thus be led by the Holy Spirit, becoming humble, meek, submissive, patient, full of love and all long-suffering;

Have a great week,
Jake

Come unto Christ...

Hi Everybody,

Yes, we have big plans for the Fourth of July!  We have a big missionary event and there will be a Hawaiian/Samoan fire dance at the church that will be going on so we are excited for that and getting the members to bring their friends to that.

I was able to go to the Cheesecake Factory for my birthday!  We went this week and it was funny, we got our cheesecake comped because they took like five extra minutes to bring out our food so that was fun!  They were all apologetic but it was just barely late so we didn't really care, but hey, FREE cheesecake!

My cardboard cover for my little scriptures is coming along GREAT, it's all done!  I took a lot of space pictures from the ensign and put them on the cardboard.  I would send a picture but I think I left my camera at Defy Gravity.  We will have to go back and try and pick that up.

Investigator/Finding Update:  We found a young guy named Caleb, we taught him about the Book of Mormon and we are going back this Saturday.  He was raised Catholic and Methodist.

Funny Experience:  We started playing the "bingo" car game while we were driving with the Raleigh four elders and it gets quite heated sometimes.  Some of them may or may not cheat...a lot!

Scripture for the week:
Omni 26  And now, my beloved brethren, I would that ye should come unto Christ, who is the Holy One of Israel, and partake of his salvation, and the power of his redemption.  Yea, come unto him, and offer your whole souls as an offering unto him, and continue in fasting and praying, and endure to the end; and as the Lord liveth ye will be saved.

Love,
Elder Jake

Keeping the faith...

Hey Family!

I got my birthday package, thank you so much!  It had everything that I wanted!  I was most excited for the little scripture set.  One of the protein powders in it opened so there was powder over everything but we got it cleaned off.  I am working on making a little cardboard case for my scriptures, I will send you a pic when I get it finished.

To celebrate my birthday we went and got ice-cream near the end of the day, oh, and late Saturday night, after curfew, the first counselor asked me to give a talk on Father's Day.  Luckily it was just a youth speaker talk, but I got up at 4:30 AM to prep for it.  I talked about how God is our Father before he is our God.

Funny Story:  We got a new car and we named it Lady (it is red and is a girl car, and looks like a lady bug).  We were a full time car for a few days , but the zone leader stole it and gave it away the day before my birthday.

Investigator/finding Update:  Still in the works, finding has been a struggle.

I have had a really hard last few weeks, we haven't been able to find anyone and all the people we have found have dropped us which has been really disheartening.  It has been a struggle to stay happy and keep the faith that we will find someone.  I am doing OK and I am not keeping my feelings hidden in me.  This is a test from the Lord to try my patience and to motivate me to try new things.
Mosiah 23:21  "...yea, he trieth their patience and their faith."

Scripture for the week:  Alma 60:23-24

Six Month Recap...

Hey Family,

So I am pretty happy be staying here in Raleigh with Elder Lofgreen.  I thought that I would be staying, but I'm pretty sure I will be transferred next transfer.  We get along great.  There were some things that we had to talk about and get worked out, but the good thing is that we can communicate with each other and both of us are willing to adjust.

My investigator update won't take too long.  We got dropped by everyone, H got antied and doesn't want to meet anymore and no one is answering our calls or the door so we are back at square one.

Scripture for the week:  Be Like Moroni!

Alma 48:17  Yea verily, verily I say unto you, if all men had been, and were, and ever would be, like unto Moroni, behold, the very powers of hell would have been shaken forever; yea, the devil would never have power over the hearts of the children of men.

Six month recap...What have you learned on your mission so far?
I have learned how to truly understand and study the scriptures and that life is a whole lot easier when you don't focus on yourself.  The best thing you can do is get our of the way and let the spirit take over and guide.  It knows everything a whole lot better than you do.

Love,
Elder Shields