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.

Semana 24

Hello everybody!

First, thanks so much to Grandma Jeri and the Browns for the letters. It's seriously great to hear from you.

Well not a whole lot to talk about, unfortunately. It's been a pretty ordinary week of grinding and working. Lot's of good things, but pretty typical missionary days. Things are going terrific though and I have learned so much this transfer. It has been crazy, frustrating, happy, tiring, and enjoyable all together. I think I have learned more in these last few weeks than the rest of the time in the mission combined. Transfers are tomorrow so we will see if there are any changes. I will miss Elder Chacin if we get a change since he has been such a dope companion, but that's just how it goes and there are a lot of other super cool elders out here.
I did have for the first time a super delicious mexican version of a snowcone or a hawaiian shave ice called a raspa. They are super yummy and the mango one I got had huge, super sweet pieces of fresh mango in it. Perfect for the laredo heat. Other than that just working more with Ana Rivera (Eliseos sister) and running around.
Wish I had a picture, but there is an old sister here whose husband looks like a mexican version of Uncle Si from duck dynasty. It makes me want to laugh every time I see him. He has the beard, glasses, and long hair pulled in a pony tail and everything. It's super great.

Well I hope everything is doing well and I will let you all know how transfers went next well. Love you all so much and all the support that is sent here.

Stay Classy,

Elder Sheehy

Semana 23

Hello everyone!

This has been a terrific week so so many little miracles and blessings in my life. I truly love being a missionary and seeing the change that the gospel brings on peoples lives.

7/27 So while out wandering to try and find a bowling alley Elder Chacin and I ran into a Rudy's barbecue! (One of Steve's favorite places to eat when he travels to Texas) I had no idea there was one in Laredo so he and I of course had to stop in! Boy the brisket there and peach cobbler was super good. It was totally worth it. I totally felt like we were led there by Grandpa Don as he loved barbecue so much and he knows how much I love good food. We were seriously way out of the way in an area we shouldn't have even been in. So that's just one of the great little tender mercies of the lord we experienced this week. This kid seriously gets excited about food! :)

So we have been working with a wonderful family called the Riveras. Eliseo the son has been working forever with Elders to get off his probation and has wanted to be baptized for ever. He is such a cool guy that has an extremely big heart. This last thursday he was baptized! He was so extremely happy and so excited all week leading up to the baptism. He is going to be an extremely strong member and priesthood holder here that Laredo needs so badly. It's been a real privilege serving him. I love this family to death and they are progressing so much. We have also been working with his sister Ana who has come a long way and I would expect her to follow the example of her brother very soon.

This week has been so wonderful and full of so much great little blessings. I feel our Father in Heaven's and our Saviors love so powerfully more than ever. I love being a missionary and hope that all are looking for opportunities to share the gospel and serve others. It is the most gratifying experience you can have in this life, I am convinced.

Love everyone so much and will hopefully have more time next week to update on how everything is going. Transfers are next week so we will see how that goes. This transfer has flown by and Elder Chacin and I have been having a blast.

Love,

Elder Sheehy


And here's mine this week...

Hey Mom,

Things are going great this week. We have seen some great little miracles almost every day and I am feeling great. Time is going so fast! It will be six months on the 25th which is crazy to me. I feel like I just left yesterday. The weather is nasty hot here. Hottest days of the year are right now (100+ degrees this week plus humidity) and the locals say it will get even hotter here in mid August. Glad to hear that you are getting rain. It's quite a bit drier here in Laredo than the Rio Grande Valley so I keep hoping for rain. I have only seen it sprinkle for ten minutes here once.

I hope Em does well too. (at high school soccer try outs) I have been praying for her and I know that whatever happens, it's for the best.

Yeah I read in Em's email that Officer Ashley was retiring which is a bummer for Em. (the Riverton High police officer who was a great mentor for Austin and has become a family friend) I bet working security for the church is a great job for him though. Who knows maybe you will see him at the next conference guarding one of the apostles, or something cool like that. All the cops I've met that work in the Riverton area are super cool so if they hire any of them, I'm sure they will be great. ...not sure why he has met lots of Riverton police officers ;)  Hopefully they hire the one officer I did the ride along with that one time (Can't remember his name). He was a great guy and said he was jealous that officer Ashley had such a cool job working there.

Glad to hear that Grandma is doing a bit better. I've been praying for her in every prayer and I know that she is being cared for.

Yeah I wish that I could help Dad out, but you know duty calls, haha. (at our property in Missouri) It's too bad you couldn't go out and give him a hand, but I don't think you would have liked the heat this time of year. It's beautiful, but really hot.

Yeah for sure get to know the Elders better. Ask them how many meal appointments they get there. I've heard Utah missions are tough because you get fed multiple dinners a night. So don't over feed them and they will be extremely appreciative if that's the case, haha. It's painful down here when we have 2 and sometimes 3 dinners in a night. Of course the Mexican ladys here give huge portions and expect you to take at least seconds as well.       I don't think he hates it too much ;)

Well have a great week! love you so much!

Love,

Elder Sheehy

Eliseo's baptism!

Riviera family. The little girl named Zabrina is so stinking cute. (Ana's daughter, she has the pink hair) She always wants to play peek-a-boo with me when we are at their house.

Carne cook out at the Banda family.

Sister Gonzalez cross stitched the Moroni burying the plates picture all by hand. She had others as well that were incredible. She said this one was a two year project. 

A little closer to show the detail (this is Moroni's ear and side of head) Pictures don't do it justice at all.

Really cool ranch house of the Gonzalez family. Has a super tall ceiling design like they use in Mexico so they don't have to use as much air conditioning.

Rudy's brisket is the bomb! :)

Semana 22? I think

Let me just say first, two weeks is way too long to go without hearing from him. Fortunately he explains why he didn't write last week...

Hey Everyone!

Well everyone, first off sorry that i didn't get to email last week. I was sick with a fever for a couple of days and was told to stay in the apartment. Luckily I am doing well now and things have been going very well for me.

Secondly, Thanks so much to everyone who sent me birthday wishes and things. Big shout out to: Mom, Dad, and Em for the package and letter with giftcards and the sweet Chicago Blackhawks T- shirt. Super cool to hear they won the cup again! Aunt Sherrie for the planner and card, Aunt Bertha for the card, The great letter from the Hermansens, The card and package with yummy trader Joes stuff from Grandma Lorraine, and Grandma Jeri for the package and card with more socks, (seriously these things are like gold in the mission), macadamia nuts, that cool waterbottle, and more cologne and hair stuff. You guys spoil me so much. I am truly blessed and will have to take you all out to dinner or something to repay all of you. Especially thank you for anyone that sent giftcards or cash. That goes a long way in not only helping me out, but other missionaries that don't have as much to buy things that they need. It was seriously an awesome birthday.

I guess I will recap the highlights of the last two weeks, not a whole lot with being sick in the apartment but here we go:

7/14-  My birthday was great. With all the packages and cards everyone so generously sent me and the cake and ice cream the zone gave me, everything was awesome. Birthdays on the mission are exactly how they should be though. Not a lot of time to think of myself and paying forward the love others show me to the people I work with.
The work after zone meeting went really well. We set a baptismal date with a super promising, humble younger woman, as well as gave two blessings. I have learned to appreciate and love the priesthood more and more every day out here. It truly changes lives and it is a huge honor to hold that responsibility. The highlight was definitely helping give blessings to two people that are struggling right now. Those were probably the best birthday gifts I received that day.

7/15- This day we learned about the crazy history of El Cenizo and Rio Bravo from a former drug trafficker haha. Man it sounds like this place used to be super scary, but according to him it's slown down a lot with all the work in the oil fields opening up. The guy is an incredibly great guy now that turned to christianity and started a family and turned his life around. We haven't had much time to teach his family yet because they are gone a lot, but they are so wonderful and very open to hearing the gospel.

7/16- A great day of interviews with President. That man is incredible and so in tune with the spirit. He helped give me some great advice and really put me back on track to being the absolute best missionary I can be. I won't lie this past month has been a little bit of a struggle with lots of little trials, but I have kept a good attitude and President Maluenda helped me so much with what he told me.

7/17- Unfortunately didn't have my camera on me, but during an interview at the church for one of the sister's investigators we found the biggest nastiest spider in the church. Not sure what kind it was but I swear it could have been a baby from Shelob the spider on Lord of the Rings. It was super sketchy trying to kill it and get it out of the church because of how big and fast it was.
We also met an incredibley humble, prepared woman named Claudia. She has such huge desires and has battled head tumors many times. In fact the doctors are giving here two more years to live right now. We had a great plan of salvation lesson with her and taught her about how life doesn't end at death. We bore our testimony of how the gospel can bless not only her, but her children so they can grow up to be strong fathers and mothers in Christ's church. The challenge is going to be getting her husband to open up as he isn't a huge fan of us. We will for sure do everything in our power to help her recieve the gospel and ultimately baptism if she continues, regardless.

7/19- 7/23 - Felt very sick during church and felt a fever coming on, went home and had to stay in the apartment according to the Mission nurse's orders. Not super fun, but I kept a good attitude and studied scriptures when I was able.

7/24 - Went to a mission call opening for a member's son here. He got called to Washington (can't remember the city name) Spanish speaking reporting to Provo in a month which is super cool. Man it feels just like yesterday that I was opening my call so it was a strange experience.

7/25- We had a branch pioneer day activity where we ate food and watched 17 Miracles. Wow that movie is good. A real tear-jerker but such a strong spirit you can feel when you watch it. I love and so deeply appreciate the pioneers who sacrificed so much so that we can have the gospel so strongly around the world now. We really have no room to complain during our tough times after watching that. Recommend it to everyone that hasn't seen it.

Well, I love you all so much. Thanks to everyone for all the love and support. As always, you are constantly in my prayers. The mission is amazing and I am learning so many life lessons out here every day. I know without a doubt that this church is true and that God is involved in the smallest details of this work. I hope everyone doesn't take this amazing gospel for granted. So many have suffered and died that we could have it too. Please continue to read, or rediscover the Book of Mormon. It is such a huge blessing and has so many answers to questions and prayers.

Stay classy y'all,

Elder Sheehy

Elder Chacin and I in front of the church we meet at. (such an awesome companion)

Thanks so much everyone. I am way spoiled and very blessed.

Just a typical Rio Bravo house.

The friendliest pitbull in south Texas. I love this dog so much. I wish I could take it and many other of the dogs here home. 

Semana 20

Well it's been a great week!

First off thanks so much to all the birthday wishes and letters/packages that have been sent. I really appreciate all that you do for me and I really am spoiled, haha. So far I have gotten a letter from Grandma Jeri (actually 2, as one that was sent to Mexico City finally got to me which was funny), and a letter from Mom and Dad. I will let everyone know what got here safe and sound.
He said he should be getting a delivery from the mission home tomorrow of anything that was sent there. I have been worried about if he will have a good birthday, he made me feel better today when he said, "I know I will be having a great birthday, no matter where or what I'm doing." :)
Things are going great here and I love my area. It's definitely a little piece of Mexico.

Tuesday- Had a fun district meeting where Elder Chacin did an object lesson of having a vision in the mission and "building up" our areas. So to illustrate that we made little graham cracker and nutella walls with our "Samuel the Mallonite" on top and saw who made the best tower by chucking marshmallows at them. It was a lot of fun and really tasty.

Wednesday was super windy and we were on bikes so it was kind of funny trying to peddle up and down the hills of El Cenizo.

Saturday as a zone we played some soccer in the morning for daily exercise and it was a ton of fun. There are a lot of Elders here who are really good at soccer so it was really competitive. It was also a very busy bike day with a lot of grinding. It felt good to go to sleep that night and that is the best feeling in the world as a missionary. You know you did good when you feel like that. We were actually going so hard that we didn't have the opportunity to stop and eat. So we came home starving and a tender mercy of the lord was a call from one of our investigators that randomly wanted to drop by a bunch of hotdogs mexicanos that were super good. I can absolutely testify of the scripture that says "take no thought of what you will eat". Our Heavenly Father definitely takes care of us missionaries. This work is absolutely true. I see those kinds of things on a daily basis.

Love you all so much and hope that everyone has a wonderful week. Thanks again for all you do.

-Elder Sheehy

A funny side note...
A friend from our ward was traveling to Laredo today for his work, He sent me this text when he landed, "Stacie, I am sure Austin has lots of people to teach, I think my plane dropped me off on the wrong side of the border. I'm the only white guy in Laredo." :)

Semana 19

Hello everyone!

I hope everyone had a great week and a great 4th of July! We had to go into the apartment at 6:00 on President's orders because people are crazy in South Texas, haha, but I heard some good fireworks. :)

I got transferred here to Rio Bravo and it also covers the little town of El Cenizo and it's a great little area. Kind of sketchy right here on the border and I can see Mexico every day so that's kind of cool, but I love the people here a lot already. The terrain is a lot more rolling and has kind of a more country feel to it which I like. My new companion Elder Chacin is such a great guy. Extremely charitable, and always has a smile on his face. He was born in Venezuela and moved to Kearns, Utah when he was 9. So he speaks both Spanish and English fluently which is a huge blessing for a gringo like me.

So kind of interesting Elder Stone was at transfers as well which was really great to catch up with him. He is doing great and really enjoyed Brownsville. Kind of funny, but he is actually now in my old area in La Joya. So maybe he will follow me around in the mission? He is going to be awesome there and I got him up to speed about all the awesome people like Tim and Javier that he should go visit.

This new district is really cool. Elder Chacin is actually the district leader and the other two companionships are sisters, what we call a "Relief society district" haha but its great. One sister (Hermana McArthur) is from Oahu and can play a ukelele (spelling? haha) really well, another from Wisconsin, and then there is sister Saramiento from Chile. She is super funny and has a really thick accent.

I have already met some great people here so far. A brother and sister named Eliseo and Anna. They have some great potential and I see them being baptized here pretty soon. The members here LOVE to feed missionaries which is great so I don't really have to ever worry about dinner. They are fantastic cooks as well. In fact yesterday we went to a member in one of the sister's areas that is an ex chef that worked at some fancy hotels in Cancun and Chihuahua when he was younger. He made some incredibly good chicken cordon bleu and a spicy Mexican soup for us.

So a great funny quote that Elder Chacin said at our first district meeting when talking about an investigator: He was talking about one of the investigators kids who got in an accident and instead of saying he got put into a cast for the break, he accidentally said "He got put into a casket". Super funny and Elder Eskelson (He is now my Zone leader here! I lived in the same apartment with him in La Joya. Super awesome to see him again) replies, "Boy, that escalated quickly" We all cracked up at that one.

So, it's been kind of a bad luck week. Sorry I don't have more specific details of experiences. Not a big deal though because I know that trials of faith come before blessings, So I am still in good spirits about things. I've been pretty sick with a fever and head cold this week, but Elder Chacin has been taking good care of me and gave me a blessing that really helped me out. On top of that we have also been experiencing car issues and sliced our tire on some piece of metal scrap, so we had to change a tire in the middle of the hot sun on the 4th of July, that was fun too, haha. Like I said though, things are still very good.

Love you all so much and hope you have a wonderful week. I don't have any pictures yet, but I will have some next week for sure.

Love,

Elder Sheehy


And here'e another part I loved on my personal letter...one of those parent "pay days" :)

Hope everyone is doing well. I miss you guys a lot and think and pray about you constantly. Thanks for raising me so well in such a great home. I can't tell you how much sad poverty and broken homes I see here. I am so grateful for what we have. Have a wonderful week!

He also sent his new mailing address. It is another missionary apartment that lives in Laredo, because as he put it.... "The area I am in is actually much more sketchy than the last. In fact the letters I will have you send to another Elder's apartment in the district because Rio Bravo is really hood, haha"

1917 S. Milmo #8
Laredo, Texas 78046

P.S. His Birthday is coming up on July 14, if anyone wants to send him some love♥
(letters only. packages still go to the mission home.)