Easter!

Happy late Easter everyone!

I hope everyone had a great one! I loved that it was a fast and testimony meeting this year to have the opportunity to hear so many great testimonies of the Savior Jesus Christ. Easter was great! I actually spent it back in the Alamo south area on an exchange with Elder Christensen! It was fun to be back with him and back in my old area. It felt very good to be in a Spanish ward again too. Something cool they do down here in Mexican tradition for Easter is make what are called "cascarones". They are the traditional Easter egg, but they clean out the inside through a hole and fill them with confetti and tape up the hole. Then they have egg fights trying to crack the confetti eggs over the other kids heads. That is something that needs to spread into American Easter culture. Of course, we need to keep it centered on the Savior too, however.

First, Thanks Grandma J for the great Easter letter! I am continually impressed by your unceasing charity. I am certain that your package has arrived too, but I haven't been able to make it to the mission office to pick it up yet.

So the notable experiences of the week were first, going on an exchange with Elder Fielding in our district (great loving, funny, and extremely hardworking missionary). The highlight of this was practicing ways to baptize one of their investigators who has a dialysis machine on her chest that can't get wet. So elders McIntosh, Mason, and I wrapped him up in a Tupperware container, tape, and Siran (sp?) wrap and having him go underwater at the font to see if he got a piece of towel wet on his chest (We of course got President Maluenda's permission to do this). So Elder Fielding basically got to obediently swim for an hour on his mission. Kind of funny. The best thing was when we first got there, there was the largest cockroach I have ever seen chilling in the empty font. So we sent Elder Mason in there to kill it. He missed with the broom and the thing trapped him in a corner with him freaking out. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. I wish I would have got it on video. His reaction was priceless.

The other was going on an exchange on Easter Sunday with my zone leader and former companion Elder Christensen. I love that guy to death, so it was great to spend some time with him again. The other thing that made it so great was spending time back in the Pharr ward that I served in for one transfer. There are a lot of people that I love there. What really pleasantly surprised me was to see my favorite family from La Joya had moved to Pharr! The Navarros! So I got to catch up with them and talk about where I've been since I left La Joya a little under a year ago.

This week was great and even though the work has been slow, I feel good about the work I am putting in. I really do hope that the people that said no now change their minds, because they were all genuinely great people, just not wanting to follow the Savior right now I guess. Pretty sad. It's a good thing they will still get so many chances to change.

Well in the spirit of Easter I would like to just leave you all with my brief testimony of the savior Jesus Christ. I know without a doubt that He lives at the very moment and that all he does is for the benefit of all of you and I. That He and our father in heaven work perfectly in tandem to help us become who we are destined to be. Know that you can turn to him in every deed, every question, and every trial. He knows it all. Never do we need to go at life alone. His love and power is sufficient for all things. (Alma 7:11-13)



(Not sure why it just cut off at the end.  Also, I combined a bit from his personal email to me, because there were more details in mine.)

Here's some pictures that one of the members posted on Facebook of Easter at her house...
Looks like they are well taken care of :)

The Weslaco Life

Hey everyone!

I hope everyone has been having a fantastic week! So I apologize that I haven't been keeping up sending many pictures out. So to make sure that I have enough time, I will try and keep this as brief as possible. As always, I would like to thank the fam and Grandma Jeri for the St. Patrick's day packages and the letters. I am so extremely spoiled and fortunate with all these great treats and little necessities.

I am still loving my companion Elder McIntosh to death. We have way too much fun cracking jokes and singing songs while out working hard. I don't know what I did to have had such great companions all the time, but I am definitely not complaining.

I really had a very spiritual week. It was just one of those where everything was going your way during my studies I just felt very close to my Heavenly Father and the spirit was bringing so many great new things to my mind. I am so grateful to have such a loving Heavenly Father. This trend didn't stop either out working. I found two very cool families from promptings to go back and speak with people out in their yards. Every time it yielded wonderful results. It just is a constant reminder that it is His work, and I am just merely an instrument here. What a blessing and a privilege.

I also have seen the truthfulness and power behind the priesthood. While on an exchange with Elder Mason (love this Elder to death). We visited their very humble, and prepared investigator Maria. Maria has had a very rough life with very many health problems. She has been for the majority of time bed ridden, or at the very least very immobile with a walker with her constant dialysis treatments and other complications. We went over and spoke to her about attending church the following day. She so badly wanted to attend but, told us that there was no way with her injuries from a bad fall the previous day and her current health. I received a firm prompting to give her a blessing and we proceeded to do just that. After I promised her from the spirit that she would be able to attend church. No matter what she felt like the next morning to get ready and the pain would go away. Well, despite some obstacles that Satan threw in the way Sunday morning, she arrived the final hour of church looking healthy and very happy to be at church. Through this woman's faith and the healing power of our Father in Heaven, she made it to church when her health and science would say that she shouldn't have been able to. This power is really and we are truly in the church that is headed by our Savior Jesus Christ.

Have a wonderful week everyone! Know that He will lift you every time you stumble, every time you feel down, and when all odds are against you. You simply need to reach out.

Love,

Elder Sheehy


And sometimes he has a little different perspective when he writes to me...

Hey Mom!

From the pictures it looks like you have been having a fun week. I am doing really well myself. Things have settled in with the new companionship and I am feeling very good. The only thing that has brought a bit of stress is how many people have been dropping investigating the church. It is starting to bum me out to see so many great people be too stubborn or prideful to accept the fullness of the gospel. Fortunately there are others out there waiting to hear it, but I have never been dropped by investigators so much in my life out of nowhere over text, and right after extremely spiritual lessons where they are so seemingly excited about the gospel. Satan sucks, haha. The bright side is my new companion is still awesome and we have a lot of fun joking around with the other Elders in the district.

Anyways,

That is super good to hear that the weather is now getting good and that Em is doing so well in sports. She is going to be super buff by the time I get home. Me on the other hand with all the greasy tacos... not so sure hahaha. I bet the temple dedication thing was super cool. You really learn to appreciate temples when you are so far away from one like me right now and not able to go. I will definitely be going to one right after I get back.

I did receive your package and the first St. Patrick's Day package from Grandma J. Thanks so much for all that (love the cookie butter always and the huge bag of my favorite jerky) and especially the replacement blade on my razor. It feels so much better. Like shaving smooth with butter. Be sure and let Grandma J know how much I appreciate her's too and that I will be eagerly awaiting the next one.
Sorry on not getting pictures out in awhile. It takes a long time sending them one at a time and I run out of the amount of time I am obediently supposed to email unfortunately. I'll send some today.

Love you so much! I love and appreciate you more and more out here every day. You really are the best mom!

Love,

Elder Sheehy

Rockin the Enchilada Pants. 

He made these himself in a school class way back in 8th or 9th grade, 

I love that he is still getting use out of them, and they haven't fallen apart :)

The McIntosh

Christensen's Party Pants

Happy St. Paddy's

No General email this week, here is his response to me....

Hey Mom, hope you are having a fun week. I had a kind of stressful one with all the changes going on around here, but it ended up really good. I love my new companion Elder McIntosh a lot. He is a great guy from northern Wyoming. I will have to get some video of him singing and playing guitar sometime because he is really amazing. So that's great to have around the apartment all the time, haha.

Sounds like you have been having a good week. Those talks sound great. (in our Sacrament mtg, preparing us for the Provo City Center temple dedication) I have enjoyed looking at pictures and the progression of the city center temple on lds.org every week. It looks super pretty. It's amazing how well they did with all of it.

Like Denise Sabin talked about, I know how it feels out here when you don't feel like you are contributing. However when you take a step back and look at the big picture and the little things you do in people's lives I know that it really is doing good things.

I miss temples so much. I really wish president Maluenda would let us go, but I understand why not. It's a pretty far drive. That is nuts that the closure of the Jordan River temple has made it so crowded. I would wait a very long time to go to a temple out here though. It's definitely built my appreciation of them too.

I've heard some really cool things about Al Fox. I would love to hear her speak sometime too. (I went to a fireside that she spoke at)

Glad to hear that La Costa is still so good. I look forward to eating there again. Yes I get Mexican food all the time, but the food is pretty different back home. So I still look forward to it again.

I will keep a look out for that new Elder in July. There is a ton of Elders going home and coming in then. It will be interesting as that is around the same time as the new mission president comes in.

Spanish is tough, but it's really cool to realize that I understand it now and can speak it. The other day at a members home there was a Spanish t.v channel in the other room and I was listening to it not really paying attention and thinking "I can't understand that" all of the sudden I remembered. Oh duh, yes I can haha. Then I focused on the words and I understood all they were saying. It's super strange to realize that every once and awhile.

Well have a great week! I probably won't have time to send a mass email this week. Just know that I am doing great!

Love you so much!

Love,

Elder Sheehy

Bye bye Elder Christensen :(

Heeeyyyy everyone!

So the news is out. I will be staying another six weeks in the great area of Llano Grande! It's been such a blast to be able to serve here. Unfortunately, Elder Christensen is heading out :(. It's hard to say goodbye to him. He has been an excellent companion and has become a great friend. I am not sure who my new companion is yet, but I hope he is another great one. I have been extremely blessed to have great companions so far in the mission.

So this week has been super great. It really flew by just like the rest of the transfer. Unfortunately our best investigator wasn't being honest and basically doesn't have a testimony of anything and a bunch of investigators dropped us, but I still had a great time serving the district and members here.

I had the cool opportunity to go to an art show at the little Weslaco museum here showcasing paintings and sculptures from our ward mission leader. He is an extremely talented guy that you would never know has so many talents because of how humble he is. I will be sure to attach some photos.

Other than that it's been a week filled with jokes and laughs among the district. I have enjoyed being the companion with a district leader so much again. It is a great opportunity to serve other missionaries which has become one of my favorite things to do out here. I know very well how difficult and stressful the work can get so I find a lot of joy from helping lessen their burdens in any way that I can.

Well, the church is true. I have gained such a profoundly deep appreciation of the atonement this transfer. I cannot ever deny that Christ is with us at all times and though we may not see him or our Father in Heaven in every moment, they are absolutely lifting us and preparing the way before us in every moment. We just need to do our very best to allow that atonement to carry us through those difficult times. I know that it is sufficient for all in every situation.

Love you all so much!

Stay classy,

Elder Sheehy

The last Blockbuster

The Zone

Happy 1 year mark!

Paintings from our great member, Brother Adame

Holy Year Mark Batman!!!

Hey everyone!

I can't believe that this past week I hit my year mark. I feel like it hasn't been that long at all. Looking back I can definitely say I have grown so much from who I was. I know that only through the power of Christ's atonement are we able to make those changes. It is an incredible miracle that our weak, mortal frames can be slowly molded into a beautiful, divine person. I certainly have so much farther to go and I am so grateful that I have one more year to give to our Father in Heaven.

As always, I want to thank those who show me so much charity by supporting me through gifts and letters.  Thanks to Grandma Lorraine for the letter and gift card! That really goes along way in helping me not only be sustained through the hard work, but also gives me an opportunity to serve other missionaries that don't have as much. Also I wanted to send a shout out to my Aunt Bertha who is turning 91! You have been such blessing in our lives and I hope to see you continue on in good health and happiness. What a blessing to have that example of strength and optimism in my life. Love you so much!

This past week has been great. I have enjoyed doing a scavenger hunt with the zone this past P-day and building stronger relationships with the other Elders in my district through exchanges and meeting the people they serve and love dearly. I had a wonderful opportunity to speak with a recent convert of Elder Stanley and Dominguez's on one exchange who is struggling really bad with depression. It was very difficult for me to see, since I know how excruciatingly tough that can get. I was able to have a very spiritual conversation with her and testify in and through the strength of the atonement Jesus Christ. We then gave her a wonderfully powerful blessing of comfort. This made me so appreciative to have the power of the priesthood in our lives to see the light of hope in her eyes after.

It was then surreal this past Thursday burning a shirt for the year mark and thinking about how far I've come and how my difficulties in the past year now pale in comparison to the joys I am currently experiencing. I testify that our Heavenly Father has a plan for each and every one of us. Though we may not see the light at the end of the tunnel, it is there if we trust in the Lord and endure well. In the meantime we can do so much good in others lives during our struggles. The true power of good character is the ability to look outwards when it is so easy to focus inward. This is something that I have really learned to appreciate during my mission. Truly the antidote to a bad day is serving someone else. Lastly I want to share a quote with you from Elder Corbridge of the seventy who recently visited our mission. It is a very simple quote, but I have found so much truthfulness to it here in the mission field and know that it applies to all:

"Selflessness is in your greatest self interest."

The church is true. Love you all and hope you all have a spectacular week!

Love,

Elder Sheehy.

Hump Week

How's it going everyone!?

My week has been busy, but very enjoyable once again.

First off, thank you so much to Grandma J. for the Valentines package and letter. I really appreciate all the charity you show to me.

So it's hard to believe that I'm going to be hitting my year mark in a few days. It truly seems like just yesterday that I left, but at the same time it feels that i've been gone for a long time. It's a very surreal feeling.

So this week was filled with great food like going to a delicious place called Fat Daddys with the great recent converts the Cuellar family. We got a delicious thing called a botana which is basicaly just a platter of delicious mexican food (sliced chicken and steak, nachos, rice, beans)and after that a free ice cream cone with some of the most delicious soft serve I have ever had. I also had a super spiritual lesson on an exchange with my zone leader Elder Cannell from Logan, Utah. We met a super cool lady that we came to find out that had just days before lost a very close friend. It gave us the opportunity to bear our testimonies of the plan of salvation and how I truly know that we will see and have the opportunity to live with our loved ones once more after this life. I also had the privildge of getting to know a return missionary that just returned from Chile. He had some crazy stories that made me glad to be serving stateside. I know it was still a great experience for him. Saturday we had a fantastic visit with the whole mission present to hear a mission training from Elder Corbridge of the 70. I was really impressed at how strong his vocabulary was, but everything was taught so simply and to our understanding. I wish you all could have been there as I learned so many great things to apply to the work here.

That's about it for this week. I'll send some pictures from last week.

Have a great one!

Stay classy,

Elder Sheehy

Teaching goats

McAllen Day Spa with the zone 

Chillin with the fellas

Happy late Valentines day everyone! I hope that everyone was able to have a great day with the ones they love. It was a little different as a missionary (for obvious reasons) but I think we still were able to show a strong love for those we serve and help point them in the direction where they will be able to live again with He who first loved us.

As always, thanks so much to the fam and grandma Jeri for the valentines letters. It always brightens up the night when either Elder Christensen or I have something waiting for us in the mailbox besides the loads of junk mail that for some reason comes to us haha.

So this week was stellar. Probably the most enjoyable, happy week of my mission. While Elder Christensen was gone for three day training I got to spend those days with the other companionships in our district. We had a blast and I feel that I have gained a lot more love and appreciation for them and their abilities. We really have an awesome group of missionaries here in the Donna district.

Monday-

As a zone for our P-day activity we had a little mission spa that we set up. We had mood lighting, candles, and mud masks with the cucumbers to just kick back and relax a little from the normal go,go,go of the mission. It was awesome and super funny to see all the macho Elders chillin with mud masks. Later that evening I spent time with an Elder (Duerst) from the Harlingen zone that came to our apartment for three day training while Christensen had to go with another Elder to interview someone for baptism. We had one of the coolest, specific-prayer miracles of my mission with our members Sister Valdez and her son Isaiah. While out contacting in some apartments in our area, Elder Duerst felt inspired to stop and say a prayer to find someone to teach. We had Isaiah say a prayer asking for guidance to find a very prepared family at the next door we knocked. Right after saying the prayer we heard a fire alarm going off in one of the nearby buildings and Sister Valdez and I smelt laundry detergent from someone washing clothes. Following the sound and smells we came across a cool girl named Desiree that took us to her family in an apartment that was the source of the fire alarm going off (from her mom cooking food that she forgot about in the oven) and when we entered her mom was busy doing laundry. It was so cool how the holy ghost led us exactly to this family. The power of specific prayers are real. This is just one of many examples I have seen in the mission. The Hernandez's are now one of our most solid investigator families who all seek baptism as a goal and I am so excited looking forward to seeing how they progress.

Tuesday & Wednesday-

Moved over to the apartment with the other two companionships in our district. I spent the first day with the Olivarez companionship (Newman and Mason). I had a great time cracking jokes with them and working hard in a spanish area again. Also loved the great food offered by their members. I missed the mexican cooking. The next day was spent with the Donna Elders (Stanley and Dominguez) Great guys that work in the other half of our ward. Highlight of the day was them was taking selfies with random goats tied up around a canal.

The rest of the week was spent at the valentines ward party, and topped off with a real fireside with the district last night in the backyard of Bishop Jess. Sorry to cut it short but running out of time.

Love you all so much!

Have a great week!

Stay classy,

Elder Sheehy

p.s. I'll send pictures next week!


Some pictures a senior Sister missionary sent me of their facials: