Merry Christmas Day!!

Merry Christmas!!
As Elizabeth's Mom, can I just say that the most amazing gift received on Christmas Day was seeing Elizabeth's beautiful smile on the tv screen as we skyped her and hearing the happiness and love in her voice. We had an amazing visit with her and feel very blessed that we were able to share that time with her.  We had to share some hard news with her (grandmother dying earlier that day and her cat disappearing) but we were so happy to be able to share those things with her face to face.  She is doing amazing and is so thankful for all the love, support and letters she receives. 

Rely on Christ

This last week, my companion and I went on 2 exchanges. For one, I was here with Sister Davis and for the other I was Albuquerque (City View) with Sister Cook.

It was fun to be in Albuquerque. But it certainly was not the "city" that I expected.

We also had our Christmas Zone Conference. It was great. There was a lot of good music. My favorite song was from Forgotten Carols. It took place after Christ was crucified and someone asked Joesph if that was his son that they killed. He answered, I was not his father, he was mine. It was so powerful.

Our stake also put together a great Christmas dinner. They even gave everyone little gifts. The sisters were extra lucky, because they had had a lot of stuff donated for the sisters, and not as much for the elders. They gave us tons of scarfs and ... We have also felt the love of our wards with little presents from Subway cards, money, packages not yet opened, a homemade scarf, and a Sister who gave us the recipies that she had cooked for us in the past. We have a little pile on our table at home. The love of the wards make me smile! I have a feeling people are going to be stuffing us with tons of Christmas foods soon. Next monday, I will have cookies to put out for Santa to come :) I can't miss out on that tradition.

At the Zone conference, each missionary had sent in a miracle story that S. Marble put into a booklet for us. It is soo cool and very special. I thought about sending it home as something special.... but I decided I should read it first.

Something cool that happened on Exchanges this week- We were leaving Sprint Apartments, when I felt like we were not done there, so we turned arround and went back. We were able to talk to one man and give him a pamplet. Nothing amazing happened, but I know we were suppose to be there to give him that. Then, we got back in the car, but I couldn't decide where to go! Left to this place or right to the other. I even got in the left turning lane (because it seemed logical), when I decided, nope, we have got to turn right. So we did, and we went to visit someone in the ward that recently moved in. Sadly, the parents were not home, but we asked the 3 kids that answered the door, if they knew anyone we could go and teach. I think the kids referred us to everyone nearby that they knew were not members :) Three neighbors and a neighborhood kid. However, when Sis Lindsay and Sis Purcell went back to knock on there doors, one of the neighbors were super interested. They were let right in and able to teach right away! It was so amazing for both of us. I loved seeing the enthusiasm of Children wanting to do missionary work. And I hope they will always remember this.

 

When I was in City view with Sister Cook, we ate at Dions with 2 families. One of their sons (an 18 year old boy) had brought his 17 year old friend. The 17 yr old hadn't decided if he was going on a mission or not. I loved talking to him because I don't tell kids that they have to go on a mission. I tell them to pray, and ask God what he thinks he should do. and then to do it no matter what his background may be. I love that answer. Gods answer is sooo much better than mine.

Church on Sunday was crazy. We have an investigator who came to church because it was important, even if she was really sick. Then we had a less active we were teaching come to church with entire nonmember family and even parents. As her mom and step dad left, the mom leaned over to us and thanked us for what we were doing for her daughter. It was powerful to know the church was changing her life. We hadnt known. You could feel that the entire famaily had felt the spirit. It was amazing! Then we had someone who might move here from UT in Gospel Principles. The class started by asking them if they had any questions. It was sooo funny. The dad was Less active (because he hates utah mormons) and they both had had previous hard hard lives. But its funny, bc people always think they can ask us the super hard you can't answer questions. That there is no way for us to answer. hahaha. He asked us how we KNOW the church is true. We told him that we dont know the church is true. that we can't entirely and fully grasp that. but that is where faith comes in and relying and recognizing the feelings from the Holy Ghost. It was a great lesson. haha, Don't people know that if you ask the missionaries a question, with a pure heart and real intent to know, then the spirit can and will give us the right words to say. Even if those words are that we want to study upon it to give them a full answer! IT is soooo cool! Then we had a former investigator show up in the next ward. She said that she had felt last night, that she needed to pray and fast and come to the Mormon church so that she can decide weather to be mormon or jewish! Wow! That was cool! Its amazing to see how the spirit influences us to be in the right place or say the right thing.

Right now, I have an easier time recognizing where we are suppose to be, and I pray so hard everyday to know what to say and how to be. We are always studying the scriputers and wanting to be better.

 

Oh, btw, I am in Mormon in the Book of Mormon!!!!! Exciting! I will meet my goal of the end of the year to read the entire Book of Mormon.

I love all of you!!!! Merry Christmas!!! I think and pray for each of you everday !!! I LOVE YOU SOOOO MUCH

Christmas Zone Conference Picture

Santa Fe/Rio Rancho Christmas Zone Conference pic

December 10, 2012

We had an amazing week. Recently, we have had many people who have either dropped themselves or just needed to be dropped all together, so last week, we decided to make it a goal to find 7 new investigators- one a day. We knew it would be hard, but we also knew it was the right thing to do and we were excited to do it. And guess what, we found 7 new, amazing people to teach. People who seem to really be searching. The best part was, that we tried our best and did everything possible to find these people, but in the end, it was always the work of Heavenly Father. Here are a few of there finding stories (using numbers rather than names for privacy sake)

1 and 2--- We had 30 min. left of the night and had found no one. We had tried all of our potentials and still nothing. So, we sat in the car and said a prayer. I looked down at our planners and saw a group of 3 names we had randomly written down the previous night. People we hadn't really wanted to visit. But I knew that was were to go. So we drove over there and I felt like agh! We were not suppose to knock on those houses. Across the street from us, was a young couple waving goodbye to someone. We jumped out of the car and started to talk to them. It was perfect! They were "weirded" out. They said that they had been going through alot and it was just crazy that we were suddenly there. COOL!

3 and 4-- We had tried all day to find someone, and it was 8 and it was the last appointment of the night. We were going to see 2 other investigators. When we went in, we found that 2 (a son and a roommate) were home! We immediately invited them into the lesson and read the intro to the Book of Mormon with them all. It was awesome! The son was so intensely into the lesson! At the end, we asked if anyone had questions. The son said that he had had a question but that we had answered it! and the father said that it all made sense, of course the Book of Mormon could be the word of God! The whole family of 4 are truly interested! And the gospel is just waiting to bless there lives!

5- Again, couldn't find anyone to teach. We had been walking around the freezing cold apartments forever! When we ran into a man who had worked with hiring return missionaries for there language and other skills. He said he had talked to them a bit and would be find having us come over!!!!

6- For number 6, I was really doubting we could find anyone. So, for a long time we didn't. After 1 hr or so of walking around apartments, we got in the car to leave. My companion expressed her sadness at not finding anyone yet and at how hard we were trying. In that moment, something clicked within me and said, ok, I really have to desire this as well. 2 min later, we were driving and my companion suddenly turned for no reason. She said, we've got to go down here. Who lives down here? What street are we on? Oh, _____, a former investigator, lives here. We stopped, got out, and found out that this woman's family was going through a lot of bad things. That is why we were there!

7- My companion suddenly got sick and we had to run home. we had 1 hr left of the night and were sad not to find someone new. So we decided to go next door and return a plate (and hopefully see the man's brother, who had just moved in) We did, and everything fell perfectly in place. Now we are teaching that man's brother plus, Sis. Lindsay was no longer sick. We were meant to come home that day.

However, we have now decided to try to stick to finding 4 new investigators a week. We have many people now who really need to be strengthened and learn more. We hope to have a good cycle set up to always have a good teaching pool.

I love y'all so much! and i am so proud of y'all! everyone keeps saying "you get to skype home soon!" I smile and nod, but inwardly think that feels like forever away :)

My companion's bday is on the 19th of December

I LOVE YALL SOOOOOSOOOOOOOO MUCH!!!! MERRY CHISTMAS!

Mom- I am so sorry for everything that happened. I keep reading the letters that came in the package. y'all have such a strong testimony! share it with everyone! and Amberly! Your writing is amazing! I loved that paper you wrote. i still read it every day! I love Y'all!!!!


LOVE ELIZABETH

Zone Picture

This is the Santa Fe/Rio Rancho Zone with visiting General Authority Elder Paul V Johnson and his wife.  Elizabeth is the 3rd Sister from the left standing. She's in a blue shirt. 

12/3/12

Today I wanted to tell you about something amazing that happened! So, we have been trying to find someone who lived in the Sprint apts but without the address, we just walk around hoping to see them. I have no idea why, but i kept feeling impressed to keep putting that activity in our plans. We were just about to stop and go on to our next appointment, when I saw a black truck drive up. I turned to my comp and said Right there. Someone important is in that truck and we need to see them. The truck parked, and a man got out that was not who we were looking for. The thought of "nope, I was wrong" flipped through my mind. Fortunately, something stronger told me that no, I still needed to talk to them. So we go up and we start talking to this man. He said it would be fine for us to come back a different night and tell him more, but his wife only spoke Spanish. We asked if we could send the Spanish sisters, he said yes. A few days later, we get a call from the Spanish sisters saying that those investigators were golden, that they had been able to answer a question that the women had had for years, and that she had accepted a soft bap. (without a date). it was awesome!!!!!! I feel so blessed to have Heavenly Father work through me in marvelous ways. incredible!

 

On the same night of that phone call, we also received a phone call from an investigator that we had to stop seeing (she was not progressing :( She said that she had felt like something was missing and lost from her since we stopped visiting and the only thing that would help a little is to read the Book of Mormon and the Bible. Now, she has a baptism date and is determined that Satan won't stop her from going to church, being bap, and receiving the gift of the holy ghost. I love her so much! I am so happy that we are teaching her again and that she has the opportunity to come into the kingdom of God again! She is amazing! The day we decided to stop visiting her, we had been in a lesson, and we had all almost started to cry. It was so hard. But we hope that she realizes now that it was not us she was missing, but the Holy Ghost, that feeling.

 

Getting the package was the best thing ever! Because of finals and stuff, I have not gotten much snail mail recently. So I had been praying and praying and praying that I would receive a letter or something. When I saw the package, I actually started to cry, I was so happy. I miss y'all so much. I loved the news about Ron and I do pray for him and his family. Its so hard to see and people like him exist everywhere. There is no comfort in growth, but there is no growth in comfort. Something that we had to tell an investigator last night was that none of us is perfect and none of us is really ready for baptism. But each of us need it.

 

I also love the countdowns. Thank you so much for bringing that tradition to me.

 

Christmas devotional was amazing. We have several investigators that we really hope watched it. I liked what Trent said about how even the prophet was a goofball like him. haha :) he is an amazing man. i was thinking about that year we tried to have cookies and hot chocolate and the devo to start as a tradition and how mad y'all got at me and Eyn and maybe Trent for not being quiet or whatever. it made me laugh. The music was beautiful and the words were perfect. Christ is what the focus needs to be on. I keep hearing a quote about how busy we try to make ourselves at this time of year and what it really is about. I love the beginnings of seeing other people focus on Christ more in there lives. I Love IT. I hope to keep the spirit of Christ in my heart more than ever at this time of year.

I LOVE ALL OF YOU SOOO MUCH! MERRY CHRISTMAS

Pictures!!

We got a memory card with a few hundred pictures! Here are just a few! Enjoy!

 

 At the Albuquerque Temple

 After a Mission Conference in El Paso everyone decided to stop for some famous Hatch Peppers in Hatch New Mexico.

Our Beautiful Elizabeth..  Sister McShane.

Happy Belated Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas!!!!!!

Happy Belated Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas!!!!!!

 

I hoped that people would be more willing to talk to us this week, but not yet. This has been the longest week ever!!!! Everyone has been so busy. It is crazy to see how Satan uses busyness and idleness to go about his work. But nothing stops us.
 

On Thanksgiving, we had about 6 or 7 places to stop. All members and all with tons of food. I am sooo thankful that I am English speaking! After eating at 2 of the houses, we said no more until dessert! If we had been Spanish speaking, I think we may have burst! Either way, we both had way too much food. People later on kept saying you HAVE to have some. Its thanksgiving. At least we could choose what not to eat, seeing it was a feast. (NO sweet potatoes. yuck!) Well, lets just say that i wasn't hungry for days and felt OK. But my companion was sick and we ended up doing a few hours of study at home on Fri. and Sat.

 

At each of the houses that we stopped at, we had the members write down something they were thankful for and put in on a chain. The chain is taller than I am! It was so much fun to see everyone and participate in their activities. We now have the chain hanging in the apartment. Oh, and we took pictures with each family that we got to see. I thought you would like seeing some of the members that we work with, but you will have to wait a bit for those pictures.

 

Oh, Read Alma 32:4- I think about feasting on the scriptures. Then think about this, do you eat as much as you read. then- if you ate as much as you read, would there be days that you starve? I love how much we get to learn about the scriptures and about the gospel. Its amazing how you grow up with something and then you get to study it deeper as ALL you do is try to live it. I also love to read the ensign.

Something great this week was a blessing I received from the bishop. (We always try to get transfer blessings from the bishop) The thing is, that missionaries are not suppose to be a burden to the bishop, but a blessing, so in reality, there is only so much that we can tell the members or even the bishop about any difficulties in the area or how we are trying to improve or whatever. So when we get the blessings, I've always been wary that the bishop won't be able to say certain things in the blessing, bc then he would know. The first thing that the Heavenly Father blessed me with, was that my secret prayers were answered. It was incredible. In just a simple line, Heavenly Father knew how to help and convey to me the things that I needed in a way that helped with the work. I love receiving these blessings. The spirit is always so strong. Sometimes I wonder why I ever hesitated to receive blessings in the past when they help me feel so close to God. I love them!

 

I am soooo happy that Christmas is coming. I love looking at all of the decorations. My comp is confused. She says without the snow, its not Christmas yet.

 

I LOVE ALL OF YOU SOOOO MUCH

11/19/12

HI HI HI HI

No Transfer.  I get to stay with my companion Sister Lindsay for at least 6 more weeks in this area!

 

This week has been great! We have seen a lot of good changes and improvements in the wards. Including a new bishop in one and a new ward missionary leader in the other. Both are super excited to work hard and do everything that they can. I am so excited for it.

We also have a new baptismal date set for Dec. 8th. The amazing thing about her, is that my companion had taught her a few months ago, but the investigator had dropped the missionaries. Sis. Lindsay and I had decided to drop in on them and see how things are going a few times (she has very bad medical issues) This last week, we said a prayer before getting out of the car. But during the prayer, we both felt impressed to be bold and to extend baptism to her. She didn't answer the door that time, but the next time we tried, we went in and she told us that she was finally ready to take the next step in church. She practically begged us to ask her to be baptised. So when I extended that invitation, she said yes without a hesitation and she is sooo set on her date! I am so excited for her. She is amazing. When we taught the Word of Wisdom, the spirit was so strong that her less active husband almost cried. Teaching the Word of Wisdom can seem scary, but "we should never hesitate to teach the commandments, especially the word of wisdom. we can not deny them those blessings."

I was thinking about YW and the Book of Mormon when I remembered one of my favorite things to ever do as a youth. and it was one of the hardest things to. It was in 2005, for Pres. Hinkleys challenge to read the Book of Mormon in a year. I had tried, started, and given up so many times. And then it was suddenly December. We had just been split into the branch. We had a combined activity of all of the youth in the ward at sister Swan's home in which we started right after school and read the entire Book of Mormon until we were done. It took from noon to 11 on one day and then 7am to midnight the next day, but we did it and it was amazing. I remember that so well, because although i hadn't got everything out of it (if you ever do that) I had learned that you could read the entire Book of Mormon and it was good and it was commitment. It was amazing. I don't remember many activities, but that was def. one of the best.

 

This week, when Elder Paul V. Johnson came, I learned that I need to remember and use the education and knowledge that I gained actually at BYUI. Sister Miller talked about a document that she had read about Teaching like Christ. Ive read that exact document! I have learned and studied teaching for a long time, so why does my mind try to trick itself and say that none of that is related? I also have a better understanding of what it means for an investigator to progress. It is just like teaching in elementary schools. If you teach a child math, but then the child fails the homework or gives up on it, then the child is not progressing. I cant just say, oh, well, I taught them everything they need to know, so that is ok. I'm sure its in there somewhere. I really liked what he said about how you teach differently depending on what you want them to learn. that is SO true!

I LOVE YALL SOOOOOOOO MUCH!!!! KEEP SMILING AND PRAYING FOR ME! I PRAY FOR YOU ALWAYS> Y'ALL ARE THE BEST I DON'T WANT TO END THIS LETTER. I COULD TALK ALL DAY :)

Baptism of Isabella

11/12/12

Hola Mi Familia!

I wanted to send you a picture of the baptism of Isabella Bonura.  This is the amazing 12 year old whose mother is deaf.  Isabella was friends with Emma Roundsville and asked Emma if she could come to church with her.   After a few weeks at church, she asked how she could be a member.  That is where we came in.  Isabella is amazing! We taught her for 3 weeks and she was baptized.  She has an incredible testimony of the church and the members have helped her so much.  We want to teach her mother but are having a hard time finding a translator.  The fact that we had one for Isabella's baptism was a miracle at all.  Isabella is now the only member of the church in her family.  But I know, that with the help of the Holy Ghost, her family can join with her and one day be sealed together.  I love to watch the light of Christ shine through her eyes!

I love ya'll!
Sister Elizabeth McShane

Veterns Day Letter

HELLO FAMILY!!!!!

I LOVE YALL SOOOO MUCH

The baptism went great this week! Isabella was so beautiful in white and the young women had volunteered to sing as well. It always helps when we have a great turn out from the ward. At the start, I was a bit stressed out trying to make sure everything went smoothly and so forth. But then I decided that baptisms are not all about how perfect everything runs or that people are at the right places at the right time. All that was truly important was that we had prepared well, the spirit was present, and that Isabella was choosing for herself to make sacred covenants with God. After that, little else mattered. It truly was a beautiful baptism and I am so excited to be able to keep in contact with her for the rest of our lives. I can already imagine her in white, preparing for marriage in the temple. I have sent you a letter that tells a little about her, but has her baptismal photo in it.

In teaching Isabella and with moms new calling and with new things we are trying to do with the youth, I have been thinking alot about the youth recently. We have been trying to get priests and laurels to go with us. You know, we found Isabella because of her 12 year old friend? And Isabella has amazing fellowshiping in the youth of the church. She loves it. Then the young women sang "Firm on Faith" at church on Sunday and left our investigator speechless and feeling the spirit with great strength. It is amazing what they can do. Working with children and youth, I have seen them do more missionary work than most adults have done in the ward. Fear of missionary work seems to be something that children learn from parents, wards, and the society at large.

(Last week we taught sharing time and asked the older kids to give away pass a long cards) So this week, we gave away small prizes and asked the kids who they gave the cards too. They were so excited to tell us exactly who they gave the cards away to and how and all about them. They are so great.

S. Lindsay's brother, Elder Lindsay recently sent a letter in which he said this " A lot of members think that doing missionary work is telling someone we are Christians at work or answering a non members questions and then not inviting them to church of giving them anything. The best way for us to missionary work is to have the missionaries involved and getting the non members to do something. Not just planting seeds but looking for ways to harvest." We read this in RS this Sunday. That night, we had a call from the woman feeding us on Monday. She said that she had really thought about what we had said and that she had invited 2 nonmembers to eat with us Monday night.

So, exchanges are the 20th. If me or my companion are getting transferred, then we will mail on Tuesday so that I can tell you where I am going to be. So be super careful if you are mailing me anything that should come around then. Because I have no idea where I may be. So, let me teach you a bit of lingo.

White-washed= a completely new set of elders are being put in an area

pink-washed= a completely new set of sisters

died= its your last transfer in the mission

someone killed a missionary= they were that missionaries last companion before she got transferred

ummm that's all of the ones on the top of my head at the moment, but there is more

It has been FREEZING!!!!! Mainly, because we just got our heater turned on on Sunday night. But on Saturday, we had been at a member's home and they asked how we were and we told them that we had no heat. Before we knew it, everyone jumped in to help. WE had 3 space heaters donated and a bunch of warm blankets from the members. Everyone has been asking how we are doing and we even had a random call from a member asking if we were ok. Not to mention many members cooking amazing meals, and then giving us ALL of the leftovers from it! I cant believe how great the members have treated us recently. No snow yet, but our car has been telling us "Ice Possible" quite a lot

On Saturday, we had a mission wide "Park and Walk" day where we parked the car and had street contacting for 2 hours. IT WAS FREEZING! Sadly, it was so cold and windy here that no one was outside. But we pushed through it all and gave away a few mormon.org cards.

I LOVE YALL SOOOOOOO MUCH!!! YOU ARE ALL AMAZING! I PRAY FOR YOU ALWAYS!

11/5/2012

Hey, Yall

 

This week, like all weeks, has huge ups and downs. But yesterday was the best Sunday on the mission yet. Church was just really good. God blessed us to be busy but also that we would be able to find all of the people we needed to talk to quickly. I loved it.

The mission also fasted for 600 baptisms as a mission goal. Recently, Pres. Miller asked us to find out what our spiritual gifts are so  I also fasted for help in knowing what my spiritual gifts are. It was amazing to look back on the day and see how God had decided to teach me and show me what some of these gifts are. I feel God's love and his grace as we work forward to find new people to teach and to testify of his word. As part of that, we taught primary this week! And it was so much fun! We were teaching them about what missionaries do for sharing time. At the end of the lesson, we gave all of the kids a service scavenger hunt. They have to go do so many things for so many points, then on Sunday they get to find us and we will give them a prize! They are so exited! It was so much fun to see there reactions and hear all of the kids telling there moms about it after classes. They are the cutest kids ever. It will be so much fun to have them coming up to us on Sunday.

 

We have a baptism for a 12 year old girl coming up this Saturday. This girl is amazing. On Sunday, she sat with her friends at church and they had been whispering about getting up to bear their testimony. The girl didn't know how to say one. So her friends mom got up and taught her how to bear her testimony through example. After the testimony meeting, the girl came up to us and told us that she had thought of a testimony and she wanted to tell us it at the end of tomorrow nights lesson. She is truly amazing and has the sweetest spirit. She asked me to give a talk on baptism at the baptism! And because of every one that we have had to work with to help her out, we will have the bishop, stake president, and very likely President Miller there with us! Ekkkkk! But I know it will be fine. I love this girl so much. I cant wait to send y'all a picture of that!

I got the Ensign today! I cant wait to look through it! Remember, Transfers are Nov. 20th and I won't be able to tell you if I am staying or going till the day before that. And what kinds of things are y'all wanting from NM for Christmas? Oh, that reminds me. I kinda really really super a lot would love and need a GPS about any time or as soon as possible and still kinda on sale ish. :) With training ending there is a huge chance that Sister Lindsay will leave and I will have the area. But we think that we may be getting white washed so I am not so sure. But then, no one is ever completely sure about any of this any way.

 

How are y'all liking feeding the missionaries still? What kinds of things are they inviting y'all to do and how is your missionary work as a family progressing? I always need new ideas! So our mission has about 167 missionaries right now, but we are allowed to have up to 175. With the new age changes, we are now allowed to have up to 250 missionaries!!!! ITS SO COOL! But they will not really start coming in mass until March, which is good for me because I definitely am not ready to train other missionaries yet. scary thought. We also got a report, that on average, there are about 50 Sisters at each BYU ward turning in mission applications! Its so cool! Its kinda funny, we keep telling the missionaries that will be going home soon that they have till March to find a girl to marry before all of the 19-21 year olds are gone. haha. However, Hermanna Henderson goes home in March and she is way looking forward to having all of the younger sisters gone. Its all just funny and we just laugh over it. To tell the truth, all of the sisters look at "going home and getting married" "texting a boy" or whatever as super disgusting. We have a lot of fun. One sister who left, got engaged 5 weeks later, and married shortly thereafter sent a wedding pic of her, and an elder she served with back here and all of the sisters wanted to throw up. it is sooo amusing. haha

HI TO BROTHER AND SISTER MORRIS!

I love y'all so much!!!!!! LOVE LOVE LOVE! I can't say it or write it enough!

Sister Elizabeth McShane

Happy Halloween!!

Hello family,

I absolutely loved the box and Cd's I received this week! It was super cute. There were only 2 songs that I cant listen to on the CD that came in the box. Did I ask for an ensign of conference? I can't remember bc that is Exactly what I wanted. I'm excited for it to come! (they are on back order) i don't know what we are going to do with all of the goodies! I think we may be taking some of the candy over to the elders. and i was SOOOOO HAPPY with the skirt and the slippers! The other night it got below 29 degrees and we haven't gotten our heater turned on yet! It was a super cold morning! It is always nice to wear the slippers in the morning when we are studying. And i wore the skirt on the first chance that I had! however, we haven't touched the Q-tip marshmallow things. I think we are both afraid to touch that.

 

This week has been good and bad. We worked really hard but it looks like we have more people that we are going to drop. Funny story though, last week, my comp woke up in the middle of the night and heard me, laying in bed, saying "OK, I'll say it. Dear heavenly Father, thank you for letting us be at the ______ family......" haha, I said an entire prayer apparently but i sure do not remember it. haha. Last week, the Spanish sisters bought us cheap 75 cent kites and we flew them in the park. It was soo much fun. Did i tell you about how 2 weeks ago, hermana Allen decided to show off and she threw a Frisbee right into my face. SURPRISE! haha, i love her, but that bruise took forever to go away.

 

I love the way that the ward sounds, nice and small. Does it have a lot of less active members then?

 

The best thing is having 2 trunk or treats to go to. We had one on Friday and the next is on Tuesday. everyone was dressed up. it was so much fun. We even won the award for the most original costumes. we went as.... the sister missionaries.... yeah, lame that we got an award, but we are missionaries so we are allowed to be like that :) but we had an 18 year old investigator come and we used her as an excuse to go trunk or treating. we grabbed trash bags and off we went. hey, now the whole ward knows who we are. and we were even able to meet people in the ward we didn't know. it was actually really cool. i keep telling everyone that we should pass out book of Mormons on Halloween night, but i don't think that's going over well. :) just kidding.

 

This week, my fav. person to teach is a 12 year old girl whose is friends with the stake pres daughter and is getting baptized next week. She is so happy and kind and loves everything that is taught to her. This week, we showed her a clip from pres. Monson. After, we asked how she felt. she said that just had we had started playing it, she just knew that he was a prophet of God. she is soo bright and in tune with the spirit. She cant wait to be baptized. I know that It will be one of the best days of her life. I can imagine her getting her endowments in the temple, and i just get so excited for her future.

 

We also had an experience with a referral. We knocked on there door (2nd time, first time they were busy) and they said that the wife had had a break down and that it was not a good time. So we asked if we could come in and say a prayer with them and leave a blessing on there home. they said yes, and when we came in we found out that there son was in a rehab institution and that they were upset and felt like there was nothing that they could do about it. We read a little bit from the scriptures and told them about Gods love for them and about why we are put on this earth. it was heartbreaking to watch them cry, but after the prayer you could just feel a difference in the room. they were not happy, life had not change, but they were able to smile and laugh some. Its amazing what prayer can do.

 

Oh, So, i might be in a movie that the church is making. The movie is on family history work and our stake has been chosen to record our work on family history work. on Sunday, they came into our ward council and recorded what was going on about the work. it was way funny and a bit awkward. it was hard to make ward council work as ward council and forget i was being recorded. haha. I'm glad i didn't have much to say.

 

PS.we are starting to get a lot of stews

 

Well, I LOVE YOU AND I CANT WAIT TO HEAR FROM Y'ALL AGAIN!!!! Y'ALL ARE THE BEST!!!!!!!

 

Trent and Amberly, look for the good in your life and it will come to you!

October 23, 2012

This weeks letter actually came in two parts.  On Monday while they were writing their letters the fire alarm went off in the building and they had to evacuate it.  So, she quickly sent only part of it.  When they were allowed back in the building the internet wasn't working so they were allowed to finish their letters to their families on Tuesday!

 

Hello!

Its been great to get all of your letters! I love them!

 

I am sooo excited that you are in the Skyes ward! That is what y'all have wanted for years! Thats gotta be odd. I remember Brother Larsen when he was in the bishopbric. He'll be an awesome Bishop!  So, I like that the ward doesn't have a number or a neighborhood, but it cracks me up that they named it after a mall. I guess I should call the office and tell them the change.

 

So I wanted to tell you about an old man that we have been teaching for a few weeks now. He is soooo talkative and funny that it is hard to get a word in. We have taught him the first 2 lessons (it took a few lessons to teach him all of the principles) and he has been receptive to almost all of it. He even went to General conference and said that he felt more complete than he has been since his wife died. Well, this week, we went over to invite him to church and ended up being super bold with him. He gave us each 1 min. to speak boldly to him (that meant that he wouldn't interrupt :) And we did. We told him upfront that the words that we were teaching are true. That the book of Mormon is the Word of God, and that he has been feeling the spirit testifying to him of the words that we say. The spirit was so strong as we spoke and you could see his countenance changing. He even shared with us a spiritual experience that changed his life as a boy and told us that this was the first time he hasn't felt alone before. IT was amazing! I cant wait to go back and see him on Friday.

something I love is how heavenly Father always knows where we need to be and how to put us there, even if we do not know about it at the time. The other night, we were trying to figure out where we were suppose to be when we finally decided to get out of the car at 8pm and just walk down the street to a members that lived way down. So we did. And about half way down the street, I saw a kid getting into a red car parked into the street. So I yelled, "Hey, how are you" and of course he gave me a really odd look. Or id assume so because he had no idea who I was and it was a bit dark to see. Doesn't help that we were wearing skirts either though. He asked what we were doing so I yelled "WE are just walking about trying to find people to talk to" odd look.... and he said "Really?" and I said, "Yeah, we are missionaries" haha, but we ended up talking to 3 men my age about God and about his importance in our lives. Every word was sent from God. IT all just seemed to hit them. The wording was def. from God. We gave them a book of Mormon that one man started to flip through. he told me that it had fell open to a page and he knew that he should read the vrs. where his thumb had landed. It related EXACTLY to what they were doing, there concerns, and what they knew that they should not have been doing . It was an amazing experience to see the Book of Mormon take effect in such a powerful way. It was God's way of reaching out to some crazy kids and telling them that he still loves them and desires them to come unto him. I truly believe that if they took into there hearts what we had told them that night, then there lives may have been saved.

 

Last night at dinner, a mother whose boy is in Germany told us that new missionaries are not Greenies over there, but they are Golden. So that's what Ive decided to call myself as well. I am golden :) hahaha.

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM! I am so excited that you will get this note ON your birthday at least! That makes me super happy! and I hope that you got the card that i sent you last week. Will someone tell me how old mom is really? I cant remember and if i don't know ill just go around saying she is 45 or 46 or 47 or 58... you know, one of those choices.

 

I LOVE YOU MOM DAD TRENT AMBERLY AND EYN ALTHOUGH YOU ARE NOT THERE! I MISS YOU AND I CANT WAIT TO SEE YALL AGAIN! I LOVE YOU SOOOOOO MUCH! AND I MISS EACH OF YOU

10/15/2012

Hello Family!!! How are all of you! I miss you tons! Y'all are the best!

I am doing really good this week. Alot of amazing things are happening everywhere we turn. I don't feel like I deserve them at all. Y alls letters are awesome. its great to hear everything.

I had a day this week when everything was reminding me of home! When we got gas, we stopped to say hi to a family who was traveling through. They recognized us as missionaries and they told us that they were going to HOUSTON TX!!!! Freaked me out! wondered if I could sneak into there trunk or something :) Just kidding. But it was cool to see them. They were going to Cyprus.

The weather changes quickly. you never know if you need a coat on or if you will be sweating all day. The leaves are changing colors, but there are not too many leaves to change in the first place. But the mountain is looking yellower and I love all of the red leaves. I don't know if that is making the wild animals come out or what. I have now see many coyote, scorpions, spiders, wild bunnies, and road runners. However, loony tunes doesn't accurately show road runners at all.

The balloons are sooooo cool! I have a few on that card i sent y'all. If you look, you can see a pink elephant and Smokey the bear. sooo cool. IT is the best when they land. The go all over. especially in neighborhoods. in the parks, elementary schools, backyards, and streets. They are literally everywhere! I cant explain them. The best are the ones that are in shapes.

This last weekend we had stake conference. It was really good. We only went to the general session of it. In one of the talks, President Seagal spoke about how (2 weeks bf general conference) he had been in a hotel in Utah and Elder L Tom Perry came up to him in the Lobby. President S. asked him about missionary work and other things on his mind. Elder Parry told him just to wait for general conference and to make sure that he was there and listening. But that the missionary work would go forth and that very, very quickly, the number of missionaries would double in every ward.!!!! Isn't that amazing! Can you imagine having 4 missionaries in a ward!

On Saturday, a 9 year old girl, Katia Bond, was baptized as anew convert! She is sooo sweet. I have a picture that is going to be printed this week and sent next week. She was so easy to teach and knows everything. It was great to watch her learn and desire to follow Christ in every way. She is amazing.

There is one girl that we are teaching (the one with the deaf mom, but the mom did not come to the appointment this week) that amazes me. She has so much faith, and she has already been reading from the book of Mormon. The best part of the week was asking her to be baptized. You should have seen her face. She was already aglow with the spirit, but when she heard the words "Will you follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized" she got so excited. She was soooo happy. You could tell that it was exactly what she wanted. T hat one expression was priceless!

Something else that was cool came form a referral that we received from the spanish sisters. It was out in the ghetto part of Bernalillo and we went at about 7 or 7:30 at night. We knocked on the door of this trailer to see a man. We were only there for like 20 min. And in those few min. the man could already feel the spirit working on his heart as we talked about how families can be forever and of God's love for us. We explained about how he can have that feeling of comfort with him for the rest of his life. It was so amazing.

Ok, I have got to tell you about this too. We have been teaching 2 women for a while now and one night, one of the women's friends show up and we invite her to join us. During that lesson, the girl mentions that her mother is a member- one not on our records! coincidence? NEVER. So we got her name and address and we have been trying to visit for the last few weeks. This week, they invited us in and we were able to teach her and her baptized mother about the book of Mormon. When we handed her a book of Mormon, she took the book as though it were glass and might easily break. her face was full of reverence and her mother and tears dripping down her face. the spirit was so very strong in that room. i love seeing the spirit touch the hearts of so many. This truly is the church meant for all people of all backgrounds.

oh, we think that we had the cops called on us. hahaha. so, if you hear anything about the missionaries in NM.... :) My companion and Sister Rose had been knocking on doors, when at this one house, 2 little girls opened the door. They asked if the mom was home, they said no, but the girls told the missionaries there name and the moms name. When my companion and I went backk, the mom opened the door, yelled what do you want, so we asked if she was so-and-so and told her that we had met her daughters the other day but had wanted to come back when she was home. The mom got so mad at us. She yelled at us that she didnt know how we had her name or had met her daughers and that she didnt appreciate it and she is catholic and slammed the door. We walked back to the car, and a few min later she was outside her house, on the phone, staring at us with her angry eye. hahaha, so we drove away, and felt really bad for her and her family and the oportunity that they were missing out on. We did feel bad for her. but we must have also seen about 10 cops everywhere we went that night.

Thank you for your prayers. Yesterday, I had prayed that we would be safe. But latter on, I was saying another prayer and right before I said amen I had the thought to pray that we would be safe again. Latter that night, we had planned on seeing a less active member that we have been trying to get ahold of all week. however, we both felt that we should try somewhere else and I had the distrint impression that the reason that we were not to go to that other persons home, was to keep us safe. Of course, that meant I wanted to go even more :) but we most certainly did not. I know that it is because of your prayers and because of your faith that I am kept safe and that the pure of heart are being found. I know that if it hadnt been for yall, i may not have thought to pray again for safety. I love yall.

So, in my Book of Mormon reading, I am in Alma. It is amazing. I have never been so interested in reading the scriptures like this before. It helps that I dont read harry potter all of the time. The scriptures really are stories full of climax, plot, characters, and best of all absolute truth. I love reading it.

I love hearing about all of you! Yall make me smiles! Thank you for your prayers and your love. they make a HUGE difference. I love YOu!!!!

Columbus Day

I LOVE YALLLLLLL XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX

 

So, who knew that the Library is closed on Columbus Day..... yeah..... but really, who knew that it was Columbus day at all.

This week has been amazing and very difficult all tied in one. I have relied on prayer more than anything else. I have often wondered how many prayers I have said a day or that I will in a lifetime. That will be a super high number. The other morning, I was praying and just talking to God about every thing. Just pouring everything out, like it says in Alma 37:36. Afterwards, I had the lyrics "Father do you love me" stuck in my head but I couldn't remember the rest of the song. So I grabbed my children's hymn book out and flipped through it. I found the song "Teacher do you love me." Do you remember when my and Eyn and maybe Trent were younger and the ward choir had the adults and the children singing that song together? But they changed the words teacher to mother or father? Well, I do. And that hymn ended up being the exact answer to my prayers.

I have also been thinking a lot about Christ and about his ministry. He is amazing because he is the perfect everything, including the perfect missionary. Even Christ could not change all of the hearts of the people and they crucified him. Their God. You just have to except that everyone has there agency to choose right or wrong for themselves and even God could not/did not want to force them to choose righteously.

 

Last week, I went on Exchanges with Sister Davis up in Los Alamos. It was way cool. I met so many nice people. And it was actually GREEN! That was crazy. And everyone up there works in what is called "The Lab." It is the exact same lab that the atomic bomb was created in. Of course, when it was built, it was meant to be a secret area, but now it has a large community and about 32 churches in the area. wow.

I loved General Conference. That is so cool that everyone was able to watch it upstairs. We were at the stake center for 6 hours on Saturday and then on Sunday. We had a super nice member feed all of the missionaries in between conferences. it was so funny to be in there. For each session, you had a large group of 18 missionaries sitting up in the front and then all of the members behind us. it was a lot of fun to be with all of them. I was even able to receive a priesthood blessing from the elders. They are awesome. The new announcement is crazy cool. We are already thinking about how we might train 19 yr olds. weird. Sadly, I have already heard one elder say that maybe he will find his wife on his mission..... yuck.

I loved each of the sessions. I do not think that I have focused so well on them in a long time. its cool how every talk can touch you. Of course, we all loved the "Ask A Missionary" Talk. we hope a lot of good comes from that and we are excited to see what happens. It was fun to eat lunch with all of the missionaries afterword. if we ever had a question we would "Ask a Missionary" :) I also loved the talk about "trials of our faith." Elder Hollands was super cool. But to make it even cooler, i had watched an MTC address from him in which he included a lot of what he said at conference! And I had heard it like 3 days before! It is crazy to think and ask yourselves, Do you love Christ? After watching his MTC address, I was able to ask two of our investigators how much they were willing to do for God. I mean, you think about all of the trials that we have in life and you have to ask yourself what are you willing to do for God? especially, when you are faced with the choice to visibly put more trials ahead of you if that means doing God's will for you. I loved the talks about looking for the good in the little things of life. I have a "Count your many blessings" chart by my head at night. Many of the blessings do end up repeating themselves, but that is not because there is nothing to be thankful for, rather because I have seen and felt a strong need to be so thankful for the things that have been written on there. Oh man, I cant remember who said it, but one of the speakers basically gave the entire first lesson as his talk! That was soooo cool!

I truly do not have a fav. talk. you could name any one of them and I could tell you something great about each of them. I loved the talk on the Lamanites, but we were so upset that an investigator who needed it did not show up! Agh! That would have been perfect for him.;

I am very excited for the new general conference ensign to come out. we get a copy as an area, but I really wish I had my own. I did not know that they had a press conference about it? That is cool. What else new was announced?

 

OK SO WHO PRAYED THAT I WOULD GET OVER MY FEAR OF BEES???????

So last night, for dinner, we went over to the previous bishops home. He lives in a normal neighborhood, and he has 2 working beehives!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And of course, I got to go out and see the hives as all of the tired bees were flying from behind me to bring back pollen into the nest! What is up with that! I thought for sure I was going to get stung or die. One or the other!

 

Transfers happened today, and I am still staying in the same area for another 6 weeks. I may leave a few days before Thanksgiving.

 

I was going to take a video on the memory card that I put in the mail TODAY, and i did, but then i deleted it bc it looked really bad. i basically filled up the memory card. IT has ALOT Of pictures. And you are all welcome to look at any or all of them. Some of the last pictures are of the hot air balloons. There are literally Hundred's in all different shapes, colors, and sizes in the air. We had them over us, right by us, and all around. They are SOOOO cool.

Its hard to know that we are sooo close to the temple and can not go very often. i love the temple. Each and every temple.

 

I LOVE YOU SO MUCH! I hope y'all have fun reading this letter tonight at dinner time. And good luck feeding the missionaries tonight. Wish them luck!

October 1st

Wow, it is great to hear from everyone. I love y'all so much. It is so great to hear your experiences and words. Ok, So Mom and Dad asked me how I, Elizabeth, was doing. but here is the thing. I AM Sister McShane. I am more than myself, if that even makes sense. I am here to do God's Work and that is really what I try to focus on. In the RS broadcast a lady talked about how the pioneers had to get rid of anything extra in there carts. In many ways, that is how I am. I have my family, friends, God, and the world around me in my carts. I try my best to get rid of what I will not see or do. I try not to be discouraged or disappointed in myself, because I can't carry that along with me. As an investigator would say, I raise my hand up to the Lord and try to give it all up to him, because he will take it if I have faith and continually try to improve myself. I don't write you much of when I am down, because its not worth the time that I do have and its not worth it to make the thoughts go through my head. I am not perfect at all. I have hard days. I have bad days. I have days that I just don't want to get up. But I am not. I rely on my companion, God, and my journal in all things. I can't let it overcome me.

Something cool this week is the Navajo people. We shared a message with a family this week who decided to drop the missionaries a few months ago because of the reservation laws. Thing is, you can actually get kicked off of the Pueblo for being anything but catholic. It is so sad because this family knows it is true! I have been thinking about what Nephi and Jacob and Lehi must be saying. At last these amazing peole have a chance to hear of there fathers! And yet they deny the true word of Christ. It is so sad and hard to take in. In some of the reservations, they have made it a law that the people can not leave on Sundays as away to prevent some of the members there from going to church! I feel so sorry for these people who just do not understand.

This week was great. We had many members present :) and were able to talk to many people. I love being about and inviting other people to change their lives. Sister Lindsay and I had a really good companionship inventory that has already shown leaps of improvement in both of us. We were able to talk through a lot of things that were holding us back, as well as figure out specific things to do to improve ourselves. One of our biggest  problems was trying to change everything at once. Repentance is Change. But if you try to change everything then you will explode. I know that it has been 5 weeks that we have been together, but we are starting to see much more companionship unity between us. Our strength of the week was member presents, but we are lacking in referrals and investigators at sacrament meeting. Last week, we had every investigator invited by a member. But it seems that something more needs to be done and we are working on it. We have also decided to visit every family of the ward and invite them to share the gospel and get referrals for the missionaries. It might be a semi-slow processes, but we are going for it. This week, we had a member bear her testimony. She said that her and her husband had decided to pray for missionary experiences. That same week, we knocked on the door. We had NO idea about there prayers. I am so thankful to be an instrument in the Lords hand. it just shows that alot of it, we don't and wont ever know about any of it.

 

Mom and Dad. your letters every week are truly inspiring. I love to hear your thoughts and your feelings as you go throughout the day. I have been thinking about how the family has prayed for missionary work and it makes me so glad. We need to help and the work of the members to go forward.

 

The Broadcast was awesome. It is so different to look at what they are saying in ways that it can apply to me personally and then to my investigators. It changes every word. I am so excited for conference this weekend. We have been inviting EVERYONE.

Ok, So more of me. I love New Mexico, but I think it is really odd that some people who hate rocks, actually have green turf as grass. That is odd. I think about y'all every day. Its funny how Ill just be sitting somewhere thinking about an investigator and a memory of y'all will just pop up. Do I want to go home sometimes. yes. But who wouldn't? That is part of life. Especially when we have a cell phone and I have our home phone memorized. But I don't. I do miss school and I miss Kenzie a lot. But life really is Good.

 

I Love You. Each of You. You are all special and important to me! I LOVE YOU

Anniversary Note

(Elizabeth sent us the following in a card for our anniversary and I thought I would share it.)

Hey Mom and Dad,
So far I have seen a million different types of families and relationships.  Split homes, Partner home, loving homes, and never around homes.  I see the way spouses treat each other and their children.  Although this may sound cliche, I wanted to say that I am thankful for the way you love each other, care for each other, and uplift each other.  It is inspiring to see.  Thanks for getting married, I guess. :)
I love y'all so much.  Thank you for choosing to keep and make sacred covenants.  I love y'all so much.

I know that the church is true.  I know that God only asks us to do what He knows we can accomplish.  I know that families can be together forever.  I know that I knew each of you before I came to earth.  I know that parents set examples for their children.  I know that being born under the covenant has brought miracles and undeserved blessings into my life.  I know that each of you are children of a loving Heavenly Father who knows you by name.  I know that we are each meant to have agency.  I know that God is calling out to each of us to come unto Him and repent.  I know that as you pray for missionary experiences, you can receive.

Mom and Dad; Dad and Mom, Thanks so much for the decisions you have made in your life.  Thank you for what you have taught me and each of your children.  I am so proud of you, Dad and Mom. 

I love you Mom!  I love you Dad!

Love,
Sister Elizabeth K McShane

9/24/12

Howdy Ya'll!

Your letters always make me laugh and cry at the same time. I love reading all of them.

Ok, So on Friday we had zone conference from 7:30 to 3:30 and then we left straight for El Paso! We met the sisters that we were staying the night with at about 8:30 at the stake center and went straight to their apartment for the night. They were way nice. We had 7 sisters with only one shower :) But it was way fun. Its great to meet new sisters. On Saturday, we all got up early and went to the stake center at 8:30AM. The mission pres. and his wife seated us all and then we spent until 9:15 listening to the men sing a song and then reading scriptures out loud. At 9:15, Elder Christoferson, Elder Wright and Elder Halstrom came in. They wanted to shake our hands! That was coool! It was so awesome to hear from them all. He taught us about the blessings that would come from serving a mission. He said that Serving a mission is like a tithe on the first 21 years of our life. Except that while on a mission we become more indebted to God, so it never really comes out fair :) he also said that this is the best place we can be for our families. And although things will not be perfect at home, this is the place where blessings will pore out on your family. It was awesome. It really helped to hear of the blessings that my families will receive while I am here. I really needed to hear about the mission being a tithe to the Lord that is really never paid off. It has given me more hope and determination as I pray to get through the week, day by day. I loved hearing about what every one's mother has taught them. I do not know why that is so important to me. But I have to focus on the reasons why I am here. Truth is, if I was here for myself, I would not be on a mission at all. I do this for God above all, and then for those I teach, for my family, my future family, and for everyone I will ever encounter. Serving a mission is not easy, but it is worth it. I tell myself that everyday. The talks from Saturday are in my heart and they keep me going. I want to share the gospel of Jesus Christ for more than baptismal numbers. I loved hearing about the "name" of Jesus Christ and the importance of it. I really am here for him and to bring others unto him.

It was every missionary in the mission. About 130-150 of us (27 sisters missionaries) It was so cool. I saw the other 4 who came with me from the mtc and others i knew from the plane. i loved being able to listen to everyone who spoke on Saturday.
of course I waved on I-10!!! Like a million times! I loved being back in Texas! It was also cool to look into Mexico! You could see Juarves. It was sooo cool! On the way back we decided to stop in Hatch at a place famous for green chili. We drove up and saw like 50 missionaries in line! It was crazy and not planned or coordinated at all! I got pics. that was so funny. I had a mango and red chili shake. yeah, i got half way through it and then gave it away it was strange.

Zone conference was amazing! you have NO idea what it means to us to have people willing to serve and prepare meals for us. It makes us so happy. I wish we could have had the members with missionaries out join us. That would have awesome. i learned so much from that conference. I am so excited to go out and use what I have learned. The best part was learning what I could do better. I hate being told to be better without anyone telling us how. This time, people told us how.

Because we had temple, pday, el paso trip, planning, we did not have very much proselyting time. Thursday night was sooo cool though. We had weekly planning all day, and then had so many appointments in the evening that we were running around like chickens with there heads chopped off driving cars. yeah, not a good image to put in mind. but we got it all done. Dinner plus 3 appointments. We have amazing people that we are teaching. I truly love being able to teach people in the rich, nice houses and then going to the trailers. I am so thankful for what I have. Its like being in a new world. Where everything that I had chosen not to see, what not around me. Ive always tried hard not to judge others. But now that is even more implemented when I see members who live around drugs and have had horrible things done to them and there families.

So guess what! Ragweed is horrible up here! Everyone is still sick off and on with allergies! But not me! I am sooooo blessed! I know that God is hearing both my prayers and yours!

Did I tell you about the scorpion? My comp and i were trying to unlock our apartment at night and we saw a small one right by her hand! it was crazy! We took pictures and killed it before it could get inside! The animals here are nutz@! i see wild bunnies everyday. at least those are cute. haha.

Mom! Every ones email told me to read yours first! WOW an IPAD! I see why ! I hate to break it to you, but Amberly likes Dad's better. but maybe that is a good thing for you. haha. Should i guess how long before dad or Trent tries to get something better") or maybe i should guess which one of them tries to beat it first! I'm so happy y'all had a great anniversary! sounds like so much fun! And Amberly, i am glad that you had fun too. You did SOOOO many crafts! that is awesome! Where are you going to put all of them! haha! Vicky and Ron sound so coool. I am so happy that members of the ward just keep surrounding y'all what a great area! It will be so cool to see how the ward splits. It sounds like it is going to be way complicated but hopefully super beneficial.

Dad- It is truly incredible the things that the Spirit can do. We are not the teachers at all. I am so happy that you had the opportunity to be an instrument and to be able to recognize it. you are truly an instrument in him hands more than you realize it. Everything that you do within our family, your callings, even when you help others and share the gospel. I am so happy for you and the experiences that You have and i love you so mu ch. Could you snail mail me some of your missionary experiences? It would mean a lot to me, especially now that I am in this whole new world. I bet the fam. would love them too.

Trent- i live on/by the Sandia Mountains in Placitas. I don't remember what Placitas means, but sandia is watermelon. Something about the mountain looking like a watermelon when the sun hits. yeah, i don't really understand that one. It's weird going down Calle Sandia (a street) cause its basically watermelon street. That does not make much sense to me, but oh well.

I have finally had some authentic Mexican burritos, but everything in New Mexico-ized because they put green chili in it. Maybe ill send you some eventually. idk

I LOVE YOU MOM DAD EYN TRENT AMBERLY! Y'all are all the best family ever! I think and pray for you every single day! You mean the world to me!

9/18/2012

Hello my family!

I am so glad that you got all of the pictures I sent. Sorry there were not many, but I wanted to give you something. I will try to send the memory card next week.

So, on usual p-days, we got to the store, get lunch, and then go to the stake center to use the gym with all of the other missionaries in our stake and to write letters. It is really fun. It is a good way to blow off some steam.
So, we are super lucky that we have a cell phone. But it is on silent most of the time, for appointments. its nice to be able to need something right then and get it quickly. Only downfall is getting people to answer there phones! lol. It usually helps us get the work done, rather than hinder it.
I am sooooo excited to get to look down I-10. You can sure bet that I will be waving! :) It will be so nice to be in any part of Texas. I'd love to see the boarder, that would be sooo cool.  (Elizabeth will be in El Paso to hear Elder D. Todd Christofferson on Friday Sept. 21 and 22)
I am so happy that we got to go to the temple this week. I love the spirit at the temple and I love everything that I get to learn. I was grateful for the members who volunteered on missionary Monday. It made me feel really good that there were members who desire so much for the missionaries and who love to serve us in this way. The Temple was beautiful and I am so excited to go back in 6 months. It was amazing to feel so much love from the savior and from Heavenly Father. The layout is exactly like the Houston temple. Even though the outsides don't look anything alike. It was nice knowing exactly where to go, because I had done it before :)

I know that in my last letter I told you that we had 2 to be baptized on the 20th. Well, that didn't happen. but what did occur was crazy cool. On Tuesday, my companion and I were talking about it and about how the less active dad would not even be able to be there at all and that was super disappointing. We had even talked to the Bishop a little about it. Tuesday afternoon, we got a phone call from the lady and her daughter saying that they were not sure if they were ready to be baptized, but that they wanted the Dad to be able to do it and to be there. They want to make it a family thing and they are all prepared and ready to come back to church together. It was awesome! I'm glad that this family has the chance to come back to church all together. Its even better.

I have been so surprised by how many people think that churches are here only to get free money off of. I have been shocked by the number of people who come to us and say "You follow Christ, right, so will you give me money?" It is so sad. But on a happier note, it is incredible to see how the church is truly for everyone. On one day, we taught someone who was angry and thought that the world was full of hateful people and then taught someone who thought that the world was full of hope and joy. Its incredible to watch the same spirit be able to touch the lives of all types of men and women. They truly can feel the love of Christ, because he has felt all of the pains and joys that each person in the world has. incredible.

Mom- You said that John Hilton was at Time Out for Women! That is the same person that was at my first EFY. He is so great! And his Cd's are amazing too! Oh, so, I was at the LDS book store looking for CDs but I didn't know what to get! because we can only listen to things that can be played in sacrament meeting. any way you could send me stuff eventually?

Oh, you will be soo happy. I have about half way through my journal! crazy! I cant believe how much i write. of course, idk if it is readable because I try to say so much in no time at all.
Mom and Dad! Happy Early Anniversary! I love Both of You! Married 22 Years! And Eternity more to go! :)

I LOVE YOU MOM< DAD< TRENT> EYN> AMBERLY SOOOOO MUCH! And I LOVE snail mail

Pictures and a letter

9/10/12

 

Dear Family,

Hola! From New Mexico.  So, I just wanted to send y'all a few pictures of my life. 

 

The first two are my District in the MTC. We had the most amazing District!

 

Me in front of the Provo Temple

Don't know why I am sending this one to you.. But it is me in my new home.

My Companion - Sister Lindsay, Payne Kent (age 9), Brother Kent (Baptized them), Trevon Kent (8), and me(Sister McShane)

This photo shows our personalities. Payne being a pain, Sister Lindsay scolding him lightly, his dad getting onto him, Treven in his own world and me, grimacing and wondering what have I've gotten myself into. Hahaha!!

 

Short letter included with pictures:

 

Do you realize that I have passed my 1 month marker!  Wow!!

 

One of the hardest things we do is "drop" investigators.  Its hard to watch people who could know, but don't want to know.  Everyone here is either Catholic or "they believe all churches are true!"  Both are difficult and interesting.  Catholics like to say "I am Catholic.  I already believe in Christ.  I am saved. Goodbye."  Whereas the others will say "We believe all churches worship the same God.  We don't stick with one"  They are hard because they don't believe only one Church to be true.  In ways their mind is way too open.

 

It amazes me at the people I see - who I meet and teach.  Its like I have always lived in one world and now I am seeing a new one.  It can be very, very scary to see how others live each day.

I love all of you.  I pray for each of you every night.  You are all the best.  I know that God loves each of us and that faith can produce miracles.  Pray, read your scriptures and go to church.

 

Love, Sister McShane

 

 

 

9/10/12

It is awesome to get to hear from ya'll! On a side note, next week is missionary Monday at the temple so I will email everyone on Tuesday.
I am soooo glad Amberly had an awesome birthday. I love the pic i got!  I cant believe that there are no under 10 now. crazy. I loved the 2 packages I got and the letters. They were awesome. Greenie.... lol. I loved the card and the picture of Aladdin! I now have an excuse to put up a Disney picture in my home. Keep sending those pages colored in.  Everything made me so happy. Trent! I want a nap! lol! We get just enough sleep here to survive. I have never been so diligent to going to bed on time. ever. Great job everyone with your missionary moments. That makes me soo happy. Missionary work is my purpose now and I know what it means when we say we couldn't do it without the members. every little thing counts more than you could ever think.

Guess what! Payne Kent (age 9) Got baptized on Saturday!!!! Exciting! And I've got the perfect picture that really shows each of our expressions. Lets just say they (him and his brother) were not the easiest to teach whatsoever and I am glad we don't have to teach them the recent convert lessons :) The best part was their excitement and the look on their dads face.

Our next baptisms are on the 20th. They just started coming to church and the both felt welcomed :)

Now we have a new date for someone on the 29th. This one is a miracle! She has 2 boys (one lives with the dad) and is divorced bc of an abusive relationship. The sisters before me were teaching her nephew but hadn't really talked to her at all. On my first day here, she saw us and asked if we had any way to help her nephew with employment. We went over to check on her and she completely opened up to us about her past and her boys. she was crying. We shared a little bit about what we believe and in faith and we said a prayer with her and gave her a plan of salvation pamphlet. A few days latter, we had an appointment in the same apartments that was a no-show. So we decided to walk over to her place. She had just found out that she needed open heart surgery. We were able to give her comfort, teach her about God. She believed everything we said before we said it. the spirit was so strong. She told us things that she disagreed with in her church and knew that when we said she was right that she had found the right church.  And then we both felt prompted that she needed a blessing. We went out to the car the get the phone numbers of the priesthood and a man walked up to us to talk. We got him name and number and referred him the the Spanish sisters. We also saw the no-show person who came up and said she was sorry bc she had been in the hospital but still wanted to meet with us sometime and come to church. when we got back to apt, and the woman did get her blessing the spirit was so strong. And her son wanted one to. We came back the next day and were able to set up a baptismal date. She said that after the blessing, her 10 yr old son was reading the bible suddenly. And he thanked his mom for letting him have that blessing too. it has been incredible everything with that family is still going good. I love them so much. She has soooo much faith. She shines now.

This week has been awesome! We have gotten a lot of work done in the Bernilillo ward. I have loved seeing the little miracles that occur each day. This week, the High Range ward had a youth conference of mini-missions. We each took two of the youth with us on a mini mission. beforehand, i was terrified. But with a million prayers and lots of faith, it was amazing! My companion and I were split only 2 weeks into my training. However, i was able to take the youth and visit a recent convert who had just received horrible news and a man that we ran into unexpectedly and who was interested in hearing what we had to say. It was amazing! i was able to show the youth what we do everyday as well as use what I have been trying to learn day by day. I know that all of the prayers said those few days saved me. I love the area and I love teaching. I am working on many things everyday including obedience, optimism, faith, and the courage to act upon my promptings as we teach.

There is a super sweet woman in the ward whose husband is not a member, so she cant have the missionaries over for dinner. so instead, she gives us each 10 dollars to take ourselves out each month.

It has been incredible to see so many people out here with so much faith. I love it so much. I miss all of you all of the time. i think of you everyday. Ya'll are all so special to me.

Love,

Sister Elizabeth McShane

Mission President Letter

This week we received a sweet letter from Elizabeth's Mission President with this picture enclosed. It is the first picture we have received of her so we were quite excited to see her smiling face!

Part of the letter:

Dear Brother and Sister McShane,

It was wonderful to meet Sister McShane as she arrived! We are grateful to have her as a full-time missionary in the New Mexico Albuquerque Mission.

We traveled to the Albuquerque New Mexico Temple on the way to the mission home. I had a personal interview with Sister McShane to get acquainted with her and to feel her spirit. We had a heart-warming testimony meeting in the evening. The next morning Sister McShane met her trainer. Sister McShane left with a smile and with great anticipation.

Enclosed is a picture of Sister McShane with Sister Miller and me, along with information regarding her new assignment. Next to our own family, our most important responsibility is to love, watch over and strengthen missionaries as they serve others. May the Lord bless you with peace that your missionary is well cared for as a true servant of the Lord.

With our Love,
President Wayne K. Miller
Mission President

(Our letters from Elizabeth came on Tuesday this week due to Labor day.  They were not able to access computers at the library due to the holiday.  Trent and I were fortunate to be able to send a few emails back and forth with her "live" while she was on the computer!  It made the distance not seem so far for just a few minutes! She said she is doing amazing and absolutely loves it there!)  Todays letter is lots of answers to questions we asked her in our letters.  Enjoy!!

 

My companion is great and a lot like me oddly.  She does not know what she is doing training wise. But it’s a good thing too because it makes me push myself rather than always having someone pushing me. She is very nice. Guess what she has been sick most of the week! Hahaah  I know it’s the one thing everyone says would be horrible to happen, but it happened to me. But it was ok. Found out it was really bad allergies. however, that means they will never go away,. Apparently allergies here are HORRIBLE.  but i haven’t had any at all. That is very nice. 

Music- we can only listen to stuff that is vocally and instrumentally appropriate for sacrament meeting. We have a very low selection of music to listen to. and we are looking for primary hymns. We go to the temple 9-17 and I might stop at the bookstore for stuff. idk. Just depends.

Best experience of the week- We were tracking (we do a lot of that) and it was my turn to speak at the house so i prayed real quick and asked to feel Gods love for that door. And it came. Overwhelmingly. And when she answered the door I just knew that God loves her. And I’m glad i did. She was an old lady and thought we were very nice people. But she couldn’t believe some of the stuff we taught. She had actually read true doctrine of ours written by other people and threw in our face some of the things that are most sacred to my heart. She had even burned the Book of Mormon. It was heart breaking. But even though we were turned away, i knew that God loved her even though she denies him. It was amazing and horrible all at the same time.

Oh, so our area includes huge homes and trailer parks. Large diversity of incomes.  My fav. place was the the bad neighborhood in town. ha, that was fun. Its where all the drug trafficking and other stuff goes on. I know you didn’t want to know that. But i am excited.
Look up pueblo styled homes in NM. they are awesome. To make it better, most homes have arched doorways inside. They are so cool bc they always remind me of home. I love seeing them around.
I can’t get use to all of the cigarette smoke i get every day. It’s overwhelming at times.

We have a baptism on sat. for a little 10 yr old.

I get to go to church from 7-4:30. Yes, that means I get to go to 2 wards every Sunday!!!!! wowow that is a lot of church! I got so fidgety. It will take a lot of getting used to.

The ward here is sooo nice. We only have a limited number of miles every month so if you can , please let the missionaries know that if they ever need a ride (biking or car missions) that you can give them one cause it helps us out SOOOOOOO much. We also LOVE it when we get fed. but ALWAYS say that you have pb and j  as another option. I love the families that really love the missionaries. We can tell and we always stop at those homes for restroom breaks. this one family gives us stuff every time we stop by for the restroom. Last week it was home  made banana bread!!!! wow! Also please give referrals!

Everyone here has a lap dag. It’s crazy! I can’t get away from them Macy! But i have yet to find her type of dog. Haha! On the 22 we will be in El Paso to hear from an apostle!!!! ahhh!  So exciting!!

The food here is awesome. But nothing Spanish yet. We get fed like queens  and it is the best part of the day usually. i love to get to sit with members who do have testimonies and the spirit in their homes. There is a huge difference

I LOVE ALL OF YOU! I gotta go!

Sister Elizabeth K McShane