Feliz Navidad!

We get to Skype with Austin this week!! So apparently he didn't feel the need to write very much. :)
He did get transferred to Weslaco, Texas which he didn't tell us too much about yet. 
So I, of course, googled it to find out any info. Here are some fun facts:

Weslaco is a city in Hidalgo County, Texas. The population was 35,670 at the 2010 United States Census. It is located at the southern tip of Texas in the Rio Grande Valley and is part of the Southern United States. It is near the Rio Grande, across the border from the Mexican city of Nuevo Progreso, Rio Bravo, Tamaulipas, and is about 59 miles west of South Padre Island and the Gulf of Mexico.

Weslaco derives its name from the W.E. Stewart Land Company. It was the hometown of Harlon Block, one of the Marines photographed raising the flag at Iwo Jima, and of film and television actor David Spielberg.

Streets north of the railroad tracks have Spanish names, and streets south of the railroad tracks bear names in English as a consequence of a 1921 municipal ordinance which declared that land north of the tracks be reserved for Hispanic residences and businesses, and land south of the tracks be reserved for “Anglo” residences and businesses

Hey Mom,

Hope you are having a great Christmas week. Sounds like you already have all of the details of the transfer so no need to fill you in on that. It's a great area and Elder Christensen is a super cool, funny guy. It's strange to be in a bike only area and speaking English. It's taking me awhile to adapt. It's funny how awkward I feel now teaching in English. I didn't really get to know many people very well in the previous area as it was super huge. We went by maybe once or twice to most people is all, and didn't get to teach all that we wanted to. Elder Montgomery is still in my zone so I will see him around. I think for the most part everything came that was mailed okay. Including Sherries and your package. Tell everyone thanks for me. I'll be sure to open up the packages early you said to. I'm glad to hear that Em enjoyed Silver Rush at Riverton. I wish I had done more with that stuff.
As far as Christmas goes, all I know is that I will be eating a couple of places and the member we are skyping at will text you tonight the details of what we are doing. They have a missionary out too so we have to work around them talking to him. I am looking forward to talking to you guys.

Have a great Christmas!

Love,

Elder Sheehy

I did get some pictures from his new companions Mom and a kind lady in his new ward, where he will be skyping us from, and who I think is going to be an awesome picture connection. :)
His companion, Elder Christensen, said this in his letter to his Mom, so sweet of her to share it with us...

"This week my new companion has really helped me understand the importance of being a positive light that is always shining bright upon the hill! he is an incredible missionary and I am excited for the growth that we will experience together. By the way his name is Elder Sheehy....and luckily I have only said Heshe a handful of times, Oops!"  :)

Elder Christensen from Wenatchee,Washington

Ward Christmas Party. Austin is on the far left.

At a members house with Elder Christensen

Semana 42

Hey everyone!

Sorry I haven't been able to send out very many weekly emails this transfer, and that they haven't had many details. This has been the craziest transfer of my mission so far. Not really a bad thing, as I feel I have grown a lot, but there has been no time. Transfers are tomorrow so we will see what changes come to pass.

Also, I wanted to thank everyone so much for the Christmas letters and packages including:

Grandma Jeri
Hermansens
Randalls
Aunt Arva

There are some more packages waiting for me at the post office and mission home,so no worries if you sent something and I haven't placed your name on the above list.

Other than that unfortunately not a lot to talk about. It's been so crazy, haha I will just say that I know that our Father in Heaven blesses us through our efforts and is always there during the difficult times. I have seen it time and time again here in the mission field. My testimony has grown so much of His and our Saviors love every week. I know they know us individually and that they truly have incredible plans for each and every one of us. Even if we don't understand everything that is happening, I know that we will eventually, and be so grateful for the trials we face here in the world. It's not what we do here that truly matters, it's who we become. This is His church and we will most assuredly find more happiness, truth, and guidance through it.

Love you all so much and I hope that you all have great weeks! Happy holidays!

Stay Classy,

Elder Sheehy

Week 41

No general email this week :(    Here's his letter to me...


Hey mom,

Sounds like you had a very fun vacation. (New Zealand) I would love to for sure visit with you guys someday. We should also check out the south island as it is less populated and more country/wilderness.

That's cool to hear that you got a day in Hawaii too! Wow you're spoiled ;P haha. I bet Uncle Clays and  Ted's was delicious. Would you say that you like Hawaii or New Zealand more?

Definitely check out the First Presidency Christmas devotional. I thought it was terrific and was really what I needed.

That's super cool to hear that Em had gotten so into Christmas this year! She is awesome.

Yeah it's crazy that transfers are coming up already. I will let you know next week if we get them early. Also I am doing well on coats and jackets. It has been chilly, but I have been comfortable in just my shirt still.

Stay warm and know that I love you guys so much!

Love,

Elder Sheehy

(P.S I don't think I will have time for a mass email this week. Please just tell the grandmas thank you so much for the letters and Grandma L for the giftcard)

Semana 40

Hey everyone!

I hope everyone had a terrific Thanksgiving! Mine went pretty well despite all the food! We had a super fun turkey bowl flag football tournament with two of the zones here in the McAllen area early in the morning and later that day I actually got off easy with my companion with only three meal appointments. A big tender mercy for me as my stomach was not feeling well at all. It was still too much for me to handle as the generous Mexican ladies down here expect you to eat a ton (rule of thumb is two+ plates) or some of them get offended. It was super different compared to home as the food was very Tex-Mex.  They had the traditional Turkey and potatoes, but also a Mexican pasta salad and tacos. All very good, but strange for me haha.

Things have been super crazy busy here as usual since we are always running around to help out the zone leaders because one of them is gone half of the time as he also is an assistant to the president. It's been crazy but a lot of fun to get to know our zone leader Elder Ivey better. We actually had some fun with him on Thanksgiving going around singing for the members while he played the guitar. He is really good.  The Lord has definitely been blessing us with all the hard work as we have seen a lot of miracle people wanting to be baptized that missionaries in the past had worked super hard with and had no luck. 

So craziest thing that happened this week is one of our members passed out right behind us in the middle of sacrament meeting and hit his head on the back of the pews we were sitting on. It was pretty scary and the members were pretty shaken up. Someone hurried and called an ambulance and took him to a hospital. Luckily he is doing well, but we found out later that he has previously had three minor heart attacks which is kind of scary. It was super crazy to have paramedics come into the middle of sacrament though haha. This story pretty much topped off and explains how crazy the rest of the week went. Sorry I don't have more to write it was honestly just a blur of running around.

I hope that all is going well for everyone and that you all know how extremely thankful for you I am. It was honestly kind of tough being away from everyone I love so much during Thanksgiving, but I am here with the new people that I love. I hope that I can make it up to you all more when I return home and that we will be able to continue to make great memories.

Love y'all and stay classy,

Elder Sheehy

 

Semana 39?

Hey Everyone!

Well I apologize that I wasn't able to get a mass email out last week. This new area has been super crazy busy with things to do. Have been helping out a bunch of other missionaries being right here in the heart of the mission and we had three day leadership conference so I went and worked in another area while Elder Montgomery was there since he is a district leader.

Oh by the way, Thank you so much Grandma Jeri for the Thanksgiving packages and letters. I really really appreciate your love and kindness. I have been enjoying all the great treats and new white shirts. Laredo summer time hammered a couple of mine.

So I was serving in the city of Mercedes for three days with Elder Moser (Logan, Utah) and Elder Christensen (Washington). They are great Elders and I had some fun riding around in their bike area. They actually cover an English speaking ward so all the teaching was in English. It was super strange because I'm so used to the majority being in Spanish. I felt like I was back in Utah a few times there. The area that they cover is actually where Elder Walk and Elder Strong were hit and killed on their bikes by a hit and run driver in 2011. It was kind of eerie since we were riding down the same road they were hit on a few times. I know those two Elders are working hard in the spirit world for sure. There was also cool a little memorial someone had made for them in the apartment that I stayed in.

While working in Elder Christensen and Elder Moser's area we did some service for a family who had their house flooded from the bad tropical storm that came out of the hurricane that hit Mexico. Luckily they are well off and only have to get some sheet rock replaced in their home. Something really cool about them though is I found out when I questioned the mom about her cool accent is that she is from Haiti. So I thought of Aj Halling. They were a super cool family and I got the Elders that work there a meal appointment set up so they can try some Creole food. Unfortunately I won't be there, haha. It was a fun three days and I wouldn't mind working there in the future.

Other than that it's just been running around like crazy trying to get things back to normal since no one was working in our area for three days. Oh! Something I forgot to mention is that we had a baptism last week of our investigator Celso. He is a super cool 18 year old kid that is a boyfriend of one of our members. He was so stoked after his baptism. Something really cool too is that a recent convert that was baptized the week before I got here was confirmed that same day and gave a talk about the Holy Ghost at the baptism. That has to be some kind of record or something for a recent convert giving a talk that soon after baptism. She (Raquel) is so cool and is already going out with us to lessons all the time and bringing non member friends to church. It's very cool to see how converted she has become to the gospel so quickly. She is always asking us for things to study so she can help us teach better at lessons.

Yesterday I gave another talk in church about enduring to the end. Boy is it scary still to give talks in Spanish, but man does it make teaching and speaking in English a breeze. I could talk for days in English now when before I would get nervous too haha. It went very well and I have to give credit to the Holy Ghost and the gift of tongues on that talk. I struggled for the first little bit of speaking, but out of nowhere everything just started flowing naturally like I knew what I was doing and I just set down my notes and just spoke the rest of the time by the spirit. Crazy cool experience.

That's it for now, I hope that everyone has a terrific week and a Happy Thankgiving! I am so very thankful for all the great friends and family that I have grown up with and been around. I wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for all of you.

Love you guys so much!

Stay classy,

Elder Sheehy

P.S. In my letter I asked him if they had been invited to eat Thanksgiving dinner with anyone, and he answered..."Thanksgiving is going to be just a gorge myself, food fest. We already have five meal appointments I believe and I am sure we will be getting more. I hope that I can survive that okay." :)
"Sounds like your Thanksgiving is going to be much more fun and relaxing than mine, haha. Tell the family Hi for me and that I love them."

An old pic. from Rio Bravo. Brother Deleon, one of my favorite member families.

Elder Moser and Elder Christensen are super cool guys

Super cool spanish/western style home in our area

We're not in Rio Bravo or La Joya anymore...nice neighborhoods have been a strange transition

I've forgotten what snow is.

I love how these are growing everywhere down here.

Do you think these people have enough dogs? haha, these are only like half in the picture.

Haha, only in South Texas. Could you just not pull up so close to the curb? I guess props for creativity in the use of an old mattress.

Semana 38

No general email this week, so here's my personal letter...


Hey Mom!

Yeah Texas here in the McAllen area is very nice this time of year. It rains a lot and the temperatures are just right. I do miss snow though. It will be strange not having any in December. Glad to hear that Dad made it home safe and sound.(from a hunting trip to Iowa) It was very cool to hear that they had so much success out there.

Good to hear that you were able to do some fun things for Grandma L for her anniversary. That's scary that all that craziness happened with her heart, but glad to hear that everything is alright. I am glad that you were there to help her with all that. (My mom ended up in the hospital for a few days after having an episode in which her heart rate was beating way too fast...still trying to figure out what exactly caused that)

So I haven't been to a ward or branch yet that has had a primary program yet. No worries on all the questions. Sunday is 10:00 to 1:00 just covering one spanish ward in Pharr, Texas. The new area is great. There are a ton of great members and a lot of pretty orange orchards and palm trees. It is much greener and cooler than Rio Bravo. My apartment is super nice and huge. It used to be a four person apartment, but the Alamo South area covers both of those areas so there is just Elder Montgomery and I in there. Elder Montgomery is great. We have bunch in common (hunting, surfing, business aspirations, stuff like that). He is a great guy that is extremely easy to get along with. Again I have been blessed with a great companion. My Spanish is not very good to be honest and is probably my number one struggle. It's crazy being a companion with the district leader for this long because we are constantly running around trying to work in our area and help all the other companionship's too. So it's been very hard to find a good amount of time to study Spanish.

Yeah Em was telling me that they built a new gym by our house and that she loves going there. You should definitely try out the Firehouse subs. Those are the best sub sandwiches I have ever had.

That's way cool that Em gets to give a talk too. I hope she does well and doesn't get too nervous. Giving talks in English is a breeze after struggling through a couple in Spanish, haha.

Love you so much and I hope you have a great week!

Love,

Elder Sheehy

P.S Sorry, but I probably won't be sending out a mass email this week because I don't really know what to write about. It's just been a crazy busy week with nothing really standing out.

Semana 37

Buenas tardes todos!

Well I got some news, I got transferred! I am definitely going to miss the awesome people that were in Laredo and Elder Chacin (who will be finishing his mission there in Rio Bravo), but I love this new area a lot already. So I am serving in what is called the Alamo South area which is a super huge area that covers a lot of the city of Pharr, San juan, Alamo, and a bit of Edinburgh. So basically all of the little suburb cities east of McAllen. The area is 100% Spanish. If we find anyone that speaks English we have to pass them off to the English missionaries. This will be a great opportunity to practice my Spanish! It is such a huge difference to what I am used to serving in. It's all nice homes and a lot of people compared to the little, very poor condition border towns I am used to. In fact there are some really, really nice homes in our area that I have felt so out of place walking into. Serving in the poor areas has truly made me appreciate things so much more. I really like it here a lot though and the weather is much cooler here. There are also a bunch of members that love to feed us. I have been eating three dinners every night and going back to the apartment not wanting to see another piece of food for a week, haha. But, I love blessing these peoples lives by going and visiting them and eating the meals they prepare for us. I really love the members here already.

My new companion is Elder Montgomery from Eden, Utah. He is a way cool guy and we get a long great. It's super strange how much we have in common. I am so grateful to be with another super great companion.

I don't have a lot of other details to share, just because how new I am to this area still, so I will have to let you all know more next week.

This Sunday was the McAllen stake conference with a broadcast from Salt Lake with Dallin H. Oaks and Lynn G. Robins of the Seventy speaking. It was super good with messages about making sure that we are prioritizing to do the best things in life and limiting all the distractions of the world to ensure that Christ stays central to our lives.

That's about it for now, so I hope everyone has a great week and remember to do the most important things in this life!

Stay Classy,

Elder Sheehy

P.S. My new address is:

1803 S. Juniper #1
Pharr, Texas 78577

The mail is safe here just in case anybody wants to send me something :)

Semana 36

Hope everyone had an awesome Halloween and week! Mine was just spent at a little carne cook out at one of our members homes (the Banda family) that was super good, and then more food and candy that Elder Chacin and I enjoyed in the apartment after six. Different, but Halloween was still fun.

As always, thank you so much Fam for the package with more clothes and some treats. You guys are the best. I really appreciate it. Also thanks to the Hermansens for the letter! I was super glad to hear that you are all doing well and see some pictures of what you have been up to. Thanks also to Grandma Jeri for the letter too. I am so blessed to have such wonderful people in my life. Birthday shout out to Grandma Jeri, Wes Brown, Jeff Hermansen, and Elder Cuff! I hope you all had/have wonderful birthdays! I wish I was there to celebrate with you all, but we will do something fun when I get back.

So this past week was super awesome as always down by the Rio. The highlights were throwing plates filled with shaving cream at each other for a district meeting training (sorry no pictures), Carnes (bbq) at our favorite members homes, a super cool Christmas themed Zone meeting, a miracle, and Halloween! My favorite holiday.

To talk more about the Christmas themed zone meeting. One of our zone leaders (Elder Breck, such a great guy and super funny) is heading home on Wednesday and wanted to spend one last Christmas in the mission. So we decided to throw a little party for zone meeting before he heads home so we drank hot chocolate, practiced teaching lessons that included comparing Santa to faith and Rudolph the red nosed reindeer to Christ's life, and a white elephant. It was a lot of fun. Strange for me being so into Halloween and wishing we had had a party for that, but super fun still the same.

So the miracle story is actually really long so I will have to condense it. If you want the full story you will have to ask me about it after the mission. So basically Elder Chacin and I had stopped to get some gas at the 7/11 in Rio Bravo and were talking to a less active that was there selling candy apples. After that when we went to go into the store to pick up our gas receipt a guy stopped us and started questioning us about the church. He seemed innocent enough so we started to try teaching him. Well we came to find out that this guy was probably a preacher for the Pentecostal church and knew a lot about our church and has a very negative view on us. So he starts getting heated and trying to bash our doctrine and was just overall very rude here in the middle of the parking lot for about ten minutes. We kept our cool and didn't stoop to his level, but whenever he let us get a word in we testified of truth and defended ourselves. He just wouldn't have any of it and when we realized just how hard hearted he was and wasn't willing to listen I just felt prompted to tell him boldly in Spanish. Okay, I will see you at judgement day in front of the Savior and we will see who is right. Said a respectful goodbye and headed out of there. After that Elder Chacin and I felt very bummed out. Not because of what was said, but because we just felt sad that he was so hard hearted against the truth and seemed so unhappy. We stopped and said a prayer for him and his future posterity that they would be able to find the truth and I really hope he does, After that I just looked over at Elder Chacin and said " Alright obviously the devil is trying to stop us today with all the things he has been throwing at us. So we are going to go out find a very prepared, humble person to teach right now." So we changed our view to the positive side and went right to a referral. We were met with a super friendly guy that invited us in immediately, no questions asked. Like he was just waiting for us. We had probably the most spiritual lesson of the three transfers I've been with Elder Chacin and he (Juan) easily accepted a baptismal invitation. Such a crazy cool testimony building day. The story of how we were referred to Juan is a crazy story too, but for sake of time I will have to stop here.

I know that this church is true and that truly this is Christ's work. Everything just points to that every single day out here. I am so grateful to be a part of it.

Hope everyone has a great week! We have transfers tomorrow so I will let everyone know how that goes. I think Elder Chacin and I's time together is done unfortunately, but I am excited to see where the next chapter of the mission takes me.

Love y'all and stay classy,

Elder Sheehy

Our Halloween feast of junk food, haha. Thanks to everyone for the awesome packages!

Halloween yard in Rio Bravo

Laredo and Nuevo Laredo, Mexico in the background

Bye bye Elder Breck

Merry Christmas? From Laredo

P.S. Steve is heading to Corpus Christi tomorrow for work, which is in Austin's mission, and could very possibly be where Austin could get transferred. ;)

Semana 35

Buenas tardes!

I hope that everyone had a great week! Mine was great! As always, thanks so much to Grandma Lorraine for the Halloween card with the gift card and Grandma Jeri for the Halloween card as well! I am so blessed to have such wonderful Grandmothers. I appreciate all that you do.

So this past week we had the cool opportunity to have Elder Dube of the Seventy come and speak to us for a day out in Corpus Christi. It was a looong day with tons of driving, but it was completely worth it. He is an amazing guy and the spirit was so strong as he spoke. He is also one of the funniest guys as well who lit up the room with his happy attitude. Not to mention he is a dope African accent that sounded way cool. I felt super uplifted from the things he talked about. He had nothing but great things to say about our mission and us as missionaries, which felt super good. He also told us something that we all already know. We have an incredible mission president who loves and cares about us deeply. Such a great day trip.

Saturday we got a bunch of rain from the hurricane system that hit Mexico. Luckily no damage or flooding here. Sounds like Mexico and other parts of Texas got hit pretty hard which is scary. Haven't heard much for details.

Yesterday I gave my first talk in Spanish! Boy it was scary, but it went really well. That gift of tongues definitely kicked in, haha. I spoke about being patient in the Lord's timing and through adversity. Overall, It's been a very good week.

That's all for now. Will send a few pictures.

Love you all so much and hope everyone is doing well,

Stay classy,

-Elder Sheehy

Found a wild tarantula! That sucker was big! (yikes)

Pretty sky out proselyting

Our investigator, Samuel's house in El Cenizo

A lady in our ward gave a great talk in sacrament meeting yesterday in which she emailed all of the missionaries in our ward and asked them their responses to this question: "How do you make Christ like attributes a part of your lives and missions?" 

This was Austin's response that she read as part of her talk...  

I would say, with all Christ-like attributes it really comes down to self examination. I try to take a moment during studies on a weekly basis and ask myself, "Which aspect do I most need to improve on?" and "What did I do well this week in?" I then prayerfully set goals that will help me become better in that attribute. It also comes down to constantly reminding yourself of that which you are trying to achieve and seeking divine help. Because we truly are not on our own and we can do nothing without the strength of the Savior. In every prayer that week or until I feel that I have improved at a sufficient level I will ask our Father in Heaven to specifically help me develop that attribute. I then focus on the outward. To be a follower and example of Christ is so much easier if we view mortality and others around us as He does. We cannot expect to see much improvement until we have worked on this. To end, I always give thanks for any success or things I have learned and repent when I fall short. It won't always be easy, but it will be oh so worth it. As long as we are improving and taking steps towards that tree of eternal life, we are doing precisely what our Father in Heaven wants of us. 

One more thing, it came to my attention today that I put the wrong zip code for Austin's mailing address on a message that I sent out a few months ago. It is correct on this blog, 78046. Hope that didn't mess up anyone's letters.

Semana 34

Hey everyone!

First, Thanks grandma J. for the letters. I am always so happy to hear about how you are doing and that Uncle Dale is now doing better. I will continue to send prayers his way.

Not a lot of time to talk right now. This past week was a little tough because I have a stomach bug or something that just doesn't want to go away, but it's all good. I am feeling better every day. We also are having some difficulty with investigators not progressing and we had to drop quite a few of them which is always really hard to do. There are plenty of prepared people here regardless and we are doing our best to find them and get them going on the path to eternal happiness.

The rest is going to be pictures for this week, but to end as always I hope that everyone is having a wonderful fall and that you look for those opportunities to serve those around you.

Something cool that is happening this week is that we are going to Corpus Christi on Friday to listen to a seventy (Don't know who it is yet) who is going to be here on a mission tour. It will be super cool to hear from him and learn some new things and get to see a new part of the mission for me. Will let everyone know how it goes next week.

Love y'all and stay classy,

Elder Sheehy

On the shores of the Rio in our area of El Cenizo with the district.

A cool tire snake at a park in our area right next to the Rio. Taken with the Cielito sisters (Sorenson and Ingleby)

Painting shirts with the district

Sign outside of Rio Bravo, because there is a jail in town. 

(hoping they won't be picking up hitchhikers to teach!)

Zone breakfast

Semana 33

Hey, sorry not much time to write this week and sorry about not sending out a mass email last week.

First,

Thanks so much to grandma Jeri for the letters and amazing Halloween package! Wow I owe you big time after the mission. I appreciate so much all you do for me. I am truly blessed to have such an amazing family who have taught me so many valuable things. Love you all around the world and back again.

Other than that things have been going good. Fairly ordinary weeks so not too much new. Not a lot of time to give details this week as well so I will just send pictures.

Love you all so much and hope that you are having a great fall.

The church is true!

Stay Classy,

Elder Sheehy



Here is a part of the letter he wrote to me, since he didn't write much in the mass email again this week... :)

I know how tough this life gets sometimes. The mission isn't easy either, but I am learning so much and helping so many people I don't know how I could ever turn back. There are so many precious things to learn out here that I don't think I would have ever gained otherwise.

Hope all is well and you have an awesome week! Oh, President Maluenda told me to tell you all hi for him at the interviews I had with him last Friday. I always love the time I get to hear from him. Such an amazing guy.

Starting Halloween celebrations right. Elder Chacin at Burger King with the black colored buns on the Halloween Whopper and a pumpkin shake.  Looks nasty, but it tasted good.

What happens in a two man apartment, stays in a two man apartment, haha! 

Maybe Elder Chacin and I have been together too long? ;)

Dinner by candlelight in the apartment. Thanks to a great member who brought us some super good fish.

Tied up for a district meeting training

Sun setting into Mexico

Semana 32

Austin didn't send a general email this week,  I'm not sure why? But I decided to post the one he sent to me. :) 


Hey Mom!

Conference was wonderful. It was exactly what I needed. That's awesome to hear that you are re-watching the talks. I find that to be true as well that we always get more out of gospel studies when we show God our diligence in rereading. I loved the talks about the importance of women as well. I'm not going to lie, all of us elders watching that missed our moms for a little bit, but it was good, haha. I really do appreciate all you have done for me though, and all the incredible good influence you have put on my life.
I totally forgot that was Wes's mission president! (Devin Durrant, who spoke about "Ponderizing") That's super cool. I really liked his talk a lot. Yeah, president Monson did look very weak and seemed to get more tired the longer he stood up there and talked. I hope we have him around for awhile longer, but it's hard to say with all these changes in church leadership. Seems like God is calling a lot of them to positions in the spirit world right now.

I watched conference at the "Hillside chapel" up in northern Laredo which was fun and got to spend some time with Elder Olsen who lived in the same apartment with me in La Joya.  I think my favorite talks were President Uchtdorfs about re-simplifying when things seem overwhelming and Dallin H. Oaks talk on the atonement.  Elder Hollands was powerful as usual as well as Nelsons. It's hard for me to choose favorites. I also really loved Bednar's talk on the leaders of the church and the powerful final testimonies that the apostles and president Hinckley gave.

I miss rain so much! haha It seriously is so wonderful when we get rained on here. Our yard and the mountains look so pretty in that picture you sent.

Did you love that concert? I bet it was great. I love Def Leppard live a lot and would love to see Styx sometime.

Glad to hear you had a fun time with Kyle's family, grandma, and the rest. I miss the little twins sometimes and not seeing them before they grow up, but we will do something fun when I return.

I love the Nordfelts too! I think back at how much brother Nordfelt helped prepare me to go on a mission. Tell them all hi for me.

Haha, hard to explain more of what I am experiencing. Every day is pretty much a typical missionary day. Not a lot of new details as well because my area of Rio Bravo is so small that i've just about said all there is to say about it. Especially being here since July. I do love it a lot though.

I asked him what his biggest achievements and biggest challenges were this past week:
Probably biggest achievement was meeting a lot of prepared people and setting a lot of baptismal dates with them because Elder Chacin worked super hard and stayed connected to our daily goals. God blesses us always as we focus like that and it's cool to see the little miracles he gives us to place those prepared people in our path.

Biggest challenge was dealing with a stomach bug for the last couple of weeks that won't go away and having my ears gummed up that i need to go get cleaned out, haha. It's fun trying to understand a language that is already foreign, but when you're half deaf it is even more fun trying to communicate. It's all good though.

Love you so much and have a wonderful week,

Elder Sheehy

Semana 31

Well, not much time at all to type a good email out , but just wanted to report that I am still in Rio Bravo with Elder Chacin! I am way excited to spend another with him! He is a great missionary and has really become one of my very good friends. I am learning so much and am having a blast seeing Laredo grow!

Not much to say about this week unfortunately. Kind of the same old same old, but it's all very good!

One super cool experience we had this past week was contacting a home where a son there is special needs. He can only make sounds and can't speak very much at all, but his actions and experience we had with him spoke much louder than any words every could. After greeting him and asking him if anyone else was there, he went to go and grab a parent which happened to be very catholic and didn't want anything to do with us. It was amazing though because the son knew exactly who we were and why we were there. He got way happy and his face lit up when we testified, and I know without a doubt that he knows what we were saying was true. His mother rejected us still though and you could see the frustration he had when she turned us away. I know that our Father in Heaven sent him there to help that family, and hopefully someday through his good influence the rest of his family will accept the true gospel. This experience was just such a great testimony to me of the truthfulness of this church and how loving and just our father in heaven is. I know without a doubt that people like him are truly heirs of the celestial kingdom and that they are only here to gain a body and help the rest of us out to return home to the God who gave us life.

That's all for now. Love y'all so much and hope everyone is enjoying their fall. I can't wait to hear the prophet and apostles here at general conference. I know that their words are the most beneficial for us at this time and if followed we will be strengthened tremendously.

Stay classy,

Elder Sheehy

Semana 30

Hey Everyone!

Well, transfers are coming up tomorrow and I will find out tonight where I will be for the next six weeks. Hard to say what's going on, but it will be a blast wherever I go. I feel like Elder Chacin might be splitting which will be tough, but it will be cool to get to know some other elders here.

As always, thank you so much to Grandma Jeri for the letters. They must have gotten backed up because I got three this week which was super cool. Also Grandma Jeri that's cool that president Call at the Mexico MTC is your former stake president. I was around him quite a bit there. He was a really cool guy. Also thanks so much to Aunt Bertha for the letter as well. I really appreciate the time you take to write me.

So, I don't have a ton of things to write about this week because it's just been kind of the end of transfer craziness, but on Tuesday we had another zone conference with President Maluenda. I enjoy every time I get to hear him speak. He is an incredible guy that has an amazing gospel knowledge and testimony. You can really tell how much he and his wife care for us missionaries as well. It's great to know that I can always turn to him and he will drop anything to help, if it ever was necessary. 

On Friday Elder Chacin and I enjoyed a little fiesta birthday party of one of the recent convert's son in our area. They are a super cool family with Brother Deleon who is an ex-army Iraq veteran, a die hard 49ers fan and the whole family is way into the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. So it was a ninja turtles themed party with delicious mexican food and spanish music. It's cool getting to know and love the culture here more. It is definitely a Mexico/America mix which is really cool.

Yesterday a couple of the sister missionaries in our district baptized which was way cool to see because we have been so involved with helping them. They have been working super hard and they definitely deserved to enjoy that incredible gift of baptism with their new convert.

That's all for now. Have a wonderful week everyone! I will let you all know how transfers went.

Love,

Elder Sheehy

Bye bye Elder Eskelson :(

Zone shirts we made. I am in the upper right corner

Primary kids dressed of for Mexican Independence Day at the branch party

Guard goat in the middle of inner city Laredo. Only would you see this here, ha ha

La Cucaracha. I'm so glad we don't get these and the other big bugs at home.

Road runner in the fanciest neighborhood of South Laredo

Lake Casa Blanca from last week when I was on exchange with Elder Eskelson

Semana 29

So first, sorry everyone this is going to be another really short one this week. I had some important things that I had to write my mission president and it took a good chunk of my emailing time.

I hope everyone had an awesome week and that they are enjoying the start of fall. I know I am! We are finally starting to get rainstorms occasionally again which is a huge life saver. I have learned to love rain so much more down here, haha. Maybe I will have to live in Seattle or somewhere like that after the mission?

So this week has been truly a week of miracles. So many crazy cool little things. I would go into more detail time permitting, but suffice it to say, the power of fasting is so amazing. I have seen it time and time again. It's also amazing how God puts us in the path of prepared people to hear the gospel through these "coincidences" (though really, I no longer believe in coincidences) We met a really cool, humble guy last week that just walked up to us at the library who wants to be baptized and came to church. Amazing guy who has it rough right now having just been kicked out of his house and just roaming from relative to relative here in Laredo.

I also had a blast serving in the Zone Leader's area called Abundancia with Elder Eskelson. He is going home next week and it will be super strange and kind of hard to see him go. He has been one of my leaders for just about all the time I have been out here so far. He has become one of my best friends out here and always keeps me laughing. That's something I've really learned from him, work hard on the mission and do all you can, but have righteous fun. You shouldn't suffer through the mission. Because really, it is one of the most incredible gifts that God gives us. It really is like college to prepare for life and the Celestial Kingdom. Also the fact that He trusts us enough to take part in His greatest work to bring us eternal life is truly humbling to me.

That's about it for this week. I love you all so much and am so grateful that I have all of you in my life. I can't believe how truly blessed I am and how much God is involved in our lives.

Stay Classy,

Elder Sheehy

P.S. Elder Chacin and I totally saw an illegal getting pulled out from under a car by a border patrolman right in front of us last night. Just down the road from our apartment. It was great, haha. God bless 'murica

Semana 28

Hello everyone! First off as always, Thanks so much Mom for the card and memory card so I can take pictures again and Grandma Lorraine for the package! That will help a lot, and you are too generous. Also Happy Birthday Debbie (Deb-rah) Hermansen! Have an awesome birthday! I hope that everyone is enjoying the start of their fall. To be honest I couldn't tell you what the seasons are here. It just goes from hot to hotter and dry to drier haha. I am going to freeze when I get back to Utah eventually.

Boy it's been crazy busy as usual, but crazy fun. I like when it gets busy here, because it's a lot more enjoyable when you can look back and see all that you were able to do.

Monday- So last P-day we had a way fun activity where we threw different colors of paint at each other and played a bunch of different sports out on the field next to the church. We got a pretty cool picture that we are going to put on to some zone t shirts we are making so I will send a picture of it when I get it.

Tuesday- Start of September! Hallelujah we got our truck back and miles! It felt so strange to be in a car again. I was so used to biking every day.

Wednesday- The grind. No, just don't have much to talk about. Pretty typical missionary day.

Thursday- A recent convert in Rio Bravo had a crazy break in when an ex boyfriend of her landlord was looking for her. We found out that this guy trying to find this lady and basically try to kill her, came literally 15 minutes after we left the night before. Luckily the lady got away after getting a little beat up and the guy got thrown in jail. So that's kind of nuts.

Friday- I had a day of exchanges with one of my Zone leaders named Elder Breck. It was a ton of fun. We helped some random guy in El Cenizo move a fridge and dresser in the back of our truck down the bumpy streets with him sitting in the bed holding them in since he didn't have anything to tie them down with, haha. Only in El Cenizo.

Saturday and Sunday- Not much to share right now

Monday-  Went to Rudy's again! So good! I will miss Texas barbecue when I go home eventually.

That's about all for now. Unfortunately no pictures this week, but I should have some new one for the next. I am actually on a zone exchange for the next couple of days with my Zone leader and good friend Elder Eskelson working in his area! It's going to be a blast and I am sure I will have some good things to talk about next week. It will be cool to spend some time with him before he goes home to Logan in a couple of weeks. I hope that we will get some time to hang out at Utah State when I head back there.

Have an awesome week everyone! Always be an example of the believers!

Stay Classy,

Elder Sheehy

Semana 27!

So, I hit my six month mark this past week! Super crazy. Unfortunately we have been sooo busy this past week that I have literally had no time to take a minute and burn a tie and take pictures to celebrate it. So hopefully now that we are entering into a new month it will be better and I can do that. Boy it will feel so nice to have miles again on our truck so that our area can be a car area again and not have to bike every single day in this weather. It's been nuts, but I love it. Thanks to grandma Jeri for another letter! You are so wonderful to me to be constantly sending letters like that.

Well so this week has been kind of a pure grind. Just trying to help not only our investigators get ready for baptism soon, but the other companionships in the district as well. A lot of praying and fasting and putting forth our faith.  Not a whole lot to talk about other than that. It went by as a blur.

I guess an update on the Rivera family is that the son named Carlos is listening to us now and he is awesome! Super funny kid and has strong desires to follow Christ just like his older brother Eliseo who was baptized awhile back.

Probably one of the coolest stories of the week was definitely last night. So we returned home from Laredo super late and we got a call that a very cool recent convert named Enrique needed a blessing. Well we weren't going to have enough time to bike down there so we decided that we had to take the truck even though we had less than three miles left on it. So we went there and gave him a blessing and returned just as quickly as we could, but as we were heading back we were right on the line to going over on miles. I honestly thought we were definitely going to be over. So I told Elder Chacin to say a quick prayer and hope with me so we don't go over. We literally stopped in the parking lot right on the exact number we have been given to use for August. Elder Chacin and I were freaking out and were so happy. Just a cool little tender mercy miracle God gave us to remind us that he cares and knows that we were doing what we had to and used the truck for a good cause.

Sorry that I don't have much more to talk about, but I hope everyone has a great week! Love and prayers are always being sent your way, be sure that you are returning the favor and spreading that love to all those around you.

Stay Classy everyone!

Love,

Elder Sheehy

Sunset biking in El Cenizo

More pictures of the zone meeting fashion show

House in West Abundancia area

Elder Castillo hiding from the rainstorm during the three day exchange

Semana 26

Hola y'all!

So it's been a crazy busy week with working in a different companion while Elder Chacin was down in McAllen for three day training and biking hard because our truck is out of miles for the month. It's been a lot of fun, but I sure hope this next week is a little calmer. Another crazy thing is that I am going to be hitting my six month mark tomorrow! What?!!!! That seems so unreal. I feel like I just got here still. So for this week it will mostly be pictures because i don't really know how to explain this week a better way.

Monday and Tuesday- Craziness trying to get Elder Chacin on the van to McAllen and Elder Castillo and I back to Rio Bravo since our miles are shot on our truck. It was a little nerve racking running our area by myself for a couple of days, but we ground hard and it went overall very well. It's been super hot and actually on Tuesday was hands down the most biking i've done in a day on the mission so far so my white shirts were so nasty after all the sweating, haha, thank goodness for stain remover.

Wednesday and Thursday- Moved over to work in Elder Castillo's area called West Abundancia. Really cool area in central Laredo. A lot of traffic and craziness so I was glad to go back to quiet Rio Bravo again after all that. It was a ton of fun for a couple of days though with some really good tortas (Mexican Sandwiches with carne asada on them) at a little taqueria, A really cool abandoned hospital (see pictures) and riding hard on the bikes up and down the hills. Thursday we got rain!!! I was so happy to see rain after so long. I loved it. They have a couple of streets with super nice homes on them as well which was strange to see since i've been working in very poor areas my whole mission.

Friday- Sunday- Not much to say other than back to the grind. Working hard to get some of our investigators ready for baptism.

Well I love you guys so much and all you do for me. Have a wonderful week everyone!

Love,

Elder Sheehy

Parrot wall in West Abundancia area. As you can see I was a sweaty mess as usual that day, haha

Graveyard run with Elder Castillo

This poor turtle, haha. Sweet paint job though.

Great buck! Too bad these people didn't want to talk to us :(

Missionary fashion show for zone meeting, haha. I'm looking very "derelict" but there is more in life than being really, really, excruciatingly good looking. :) 

Abandoned hospital. I felt like I was in The Walking Dead or something.

You know you're an old missionary, when you have this many planners. 

Will send more pics next week. Super slow internet sorry :(

Semana 25

Hello everyone!

Sorry another really short one. This is going to be a crazy week because of three day training which Elder Chacin will be going down to and I will be with another Elder Serving here for a few days. So not a lot of time to email this week.

So first off, thanks so much Grandma Jeri for the letter with pictures! I really enjoyed it.

Things are going wonderful here. Another transfer in Rio Bravo with the great Elder Chacin!!!

I am really learning more and appreciating more the atonement every day. Everyone needs it and it works in everything in our lives. It's so indescribable how much it means to me that our Savior would come here and die for us so that we have the chance to not be lost as imperfect as we are. I hope everyone uses the atonement more in their lives because that's really what it's there for.

Currently just biking hard because of all the meetings our car is out of miles for the month, but I love biking, even as hot as it is.

Love you all and thanks for all you do.

Love,

Elder Sheehy

On the road to Bravo

The man. The legend. The Venezuelan Sensation. Elder Chacin

The Eskelson. So fun to have him as a zone leader after having him as a district leader in La Joya. Super funny guy.

Rio Bravo

Old barn on the road between Rio Bravo and El Cenizo.