1 Corinthians 1:27

1 Corinthians 1:27   But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty.

We didn’t hear form Elder Sherwood on Monday and asked if it was due to bad weather, his response…hey! Sorry I couldn't email yesterday! We had a Zone meeting for some

reason on our preparation day. So we are taking our preparation day

today! No storm related problems here, haha.

Good Morning!

Yes, I got the cinnamon bread! Thank you so much! I missed that stuff.

Haha I don't really have any ideas for the easter bunny. Ties are

always needed :) other than that, I trust his judgement.

Alex: Your letter was awesome! It is crazy to think you will be on AWE

in a year! I'm sad I won't be there for send off and run in. But

you're right, my letter and Taylor's letter should be waiting for you

:)

Earlier this week, I was feeling very discouraged. The pressure of

missionary work is very heavy. I've never had so much responsibility

placed on my shoulders. Sometimes I really can't believe the things I

am able to do. The past two weeks have been awesome. When I got to

this area we were teaching 4 or 5 lessons a week. And now we teach at least 15

every week. It’s been so awesome to see the work here grow. The Lord is

hastening His work, all we have to do is make ourselves worthy to be

an instrument in His hands.

I've been thinking about experiences to share with you guys, but I

realized that every single day here is a miracle to me. Thinking about

my life before my mission, the type of person I was, and the type of

person I am now. It's easy for me to stand on the doorstep of a

Southern Baptist chaplain and bare testimony of the Book of Mormon. Or

to meet a stranger in a flea market and teach him about the

restoration of the gospel right there. These moments are common in the

life of a missionary. And every single one of them is a miracle if you

think about it. I love being a missionary. There's no greater work in

the world.

I have a perfect record on never leaving a home without something

being read from the Book of Mormon by the way. Consistency and

diligence is crucial.

P.S. Oh ya! I made the spicy grilled chicken last week! It was awesome! Thank you so much for the recipes!!! :) love you mom! Hope your day is going well! 

Mosiah 2:41

(Click Mosiah 2:41 to read)

First request this morning, Dad, could you please put your conversion story on paper and send it to me. I never fully realized the magnitude of your experience and it's relation to my life until recently! I can't explain how happy I am to have the gospel in my life, and it's all because of you. There are a couple people here that I think could really benefit from hearing our family's story.

Alright, this week was the best week (statistics wise) of my mission. We taught 16 lessons, 11 of which where lessons taught with a member present. Our Mission President has given us a goal to have a member at 60% of all our lessons. We crushed that percentage this week. It was such a good week. Also, we had a Zone Conference on Wednesday which was awesome. Our president told us before that he wants us to never leave a home without reading from the Book of Mormon. So I have made it my own personal goal to never leave a home that I am invited in to, without reading something from the Book of Mormon. So far so good ;)

Alright you guys asked me to answer some more questions...

Did you ever meet Sister XXXX’s brother who is serving in your mission?

Not yet! But I've met a few people that do know him.

Do you drive or does your companion?

I'm driving now.

What do most people do there, professionally?

construction (framers, roofers etc.), farmers. That’s pretty much it.

Have you spoken in church or taught a lesson?

Yes I have spoken in church twice. No I haven't taught any lessons in church yet.

Do you have a cell phone, can you text members?

Yes we have a cell phone, yes we can text anyone in our area.

Are there sister missionaries in your neck of the woods?

nope.

How is the contacting of inactives going? Are you still using the survey idea?

It’s going better. It helps immensely to have a member with you. Because instead of getting a visit from the missionaries, they are getting a visit from their friend!

When you have dinner with ward members do you share a message? What is your favorite message?

Yes I always share a message. My favorite one is Alma 17:37, then Alma 26:11-12, then D&C 35:13-14 (Nutshell: Ammon is able to smite off the arms of those that attack him, because of his strength; but in Alma 26, we see that Ammon calls himself weak! And he gives God all the honor; then D&C is awesome because it makes reference to His arm becoming our arm, and I like to relate that back to Ammon and "by the strength of his arm")

John 15:15

Good Morning!  

(John 15:15)

This week was better! The last couple weeks were a bit of a bummer,

but it has been much better this week. On Tuesday last week we got 7

inches of snow. We were stuck for most of the day until they got

the roads cleared. Then we went around town asking people if we could

shovel their driveways. It was fun! I have never shoveled snow like

that before. We did a little more shoveling on Wednesday and then the

rest of the week we went back to good old proselyting.

On Friday, we knocked on the door of this RLDS (Community of Christ)

family. We talked with them for almost 2 hours. It amazed me how

strong their faith was. But it was also a bit disheartening. They left

the RLDS church in the 80's when that church renounced use of the Book

of Mormon as scripture, and gave women the priesthood. Now they

worship in their home. They told us that they are waiting for God to

give them direction on where to go next. We just knocked on his door,

and he is telling us he is waiting for a sign from God on what to do

next. Signs don't get much more obvious than that in my opinion.

Servants of the Lord knocking on your door. But, there's only so much

we can do. People have their agency. We had a really good experience

with them and we will visit them later this week probably.

XXXXX, the daughter of the family we live next to, has been

preparing to go on a mission. It has been awesome to see her go through

the whole process from deciding to serve, to submitting papers, to

receiving her call and now she leaves on March 20th! It has been so

awesome to help her through the whole process too. On Saturday we sat

down with her and taught her all about missionary work. We helped her

understand our purpose and tried our best to calm her nerves about

serving. I feel honored to help her prepare for her mission and I hope

she can take some of the things I have taught her into the mission

field.

My companion and I are still doing great. Trying our best to work hard

and stay busy. I'm so grateful to be a part of this work. I love being

a missionary. And I love you all.

Elder Sherwood