Pictures from Arkasas

"A kid we baptized in Bentonville"

"First morning of the week we taught 1038 lessons, haha"

Elder Sherwood & Elder Stapley with the Sherwood family, no relation but Elder Sherwood thought it was so cool to meet a family in their area with his name.

 

"I'm not so proud of the first one but it is really funny haha. That's what happens when you put missionaries in a restaurant with tv's EVERYWHERE."

"Elder Stapely and me in front of our favorite BBQ taco truck, sooooo delicious!"

"Elder Stapley with his 'trunky papers' "

"Elder Bailey at the conference in Tulsa. I love that kid."

"Elder Stapely at the transfer point"

"Elder Olson, we were at the MTC together 17 months ago."

"Elder Koetting, former companion and awesome missionary"

"Elder Burr. He has been a zone leader in the Rogers Arkansas Zone, he's awesome."

Moroni 8:16

Moroni 8:16 Wo be unto them that shall pervert the ways of the Lord after this manner, for they shall perish except they repent. Behold, I speak with boldness, having ^aauthority from God; and I fear not what man can do; for ^bperfect ^clove ^dcasteth out all fear.

This week was a great week. It was a little rough but it was good. Elder Stapley went home on this week. Sad day. I already miss him. He was a great missionary and a really good friend. But he's on to bigger and better things. Anyways, my new companion Elder Wadsworth is awesome! He's a fantastic missionary and he has alot of enthusiasm for the work. We are ready to get out there and work hard. 

Last night we had a great lesson with a new investigator. His name is XXXXX. He is this 6 foot 7 guy and he's awesome. He and his wife were just married a couple of months ago and his wife is a member. He has been interested in learning about the church for years though. He played professional basketball over in Europe and in South America back in the 80's and 90's haha. He has been all over the world. He said the first time he ever saw missionaries was when he was in Brazil and they rode by on their bikes and he and his basketball buddies tried to chase them down! That was the first interaction he had with the church. But he's awesome, he wants to progress towards baptism. He is sincere, he wants to know for himself that all of this is true. He wants to have a strong testimony and a conviction of the message of the Restoration and the Book of Mormon. I'll let you know how it all goes! 

On Friday we had a mission conference in Tulsa! Elder Tad R. Callister (one of the presidents of the first quorum of the 70) was visiting our mission! It was so awesome!!! Half of the mission was in Tulsa on Friday. It was so sweet. I got to see alot of missionaries and friends that I haven't seen for a while. Pictures will be forthcoming. It was amazing. He spoke on the evidences we have for the Great Apostasy. And the need for a restoration. It was so cool. I can't even really begin to summarize what he said. I took a lot of notes however. It's not often that we get a general authority visiting our mission. 

The reason I chose Moroni 8:16 today was because I've been thinking about fears lately. How often we let our fears affect our lives. One of my favorite quotes is "courage is not the lack of fear, but acting in spite of it". It's so true. Our fears are really nothing when you think about it. Fear is the opposite of faith. When we have faith or courage, we might still be afraid of the out come. But true faith is hoping that the Savior will help you through whatever it is you are struggling with and just putting one foot in front of the other, even when you have to take those steps in to a little bit of darkness. You'll find that the Lord will bring light to our path after we have exercised a little bit of faith. And after the trial of our faith, we can look back and see that our fears don't really have much substance. Fear not, only believe. I love this work and I love the Gospel. I love Jesus Christ and I love all of you! 

Love,

Elder Sherwood 

"The Greatest Zone in the World!"

"Some colorful characters in the zone"

"The greatest zone in the world!"

Visiting the St. Louis Temple

Phillipians 4:13 & D & C 88:73

A little explanation before the e-mail:

Elder Sherwood’s zone had a plan…

Elder Stapley & Elder Sherwood rolled out this plan for their zone:

Millenial Mountain

Equation: 1 lesson per hour x 13 areas = 1001 lessons

“Don’t let the low standards and expectations of the world and others cause you to aim beneath your nobility and ability—dream big! What I know and have learned is that anything worth doing is not easy and that we can do anything that is not easy if we believe.” - Elaine Dalton

Phillipians 4:13   I can do all things through ^aChrist which ^bstrengtheneth me.

This week was AWESOME!!!!! I am really excited to tell you all how the week went so here it is! We finished the week with a total of 1,038 lessons taught. We beat the record by 247 lessons! 569 member present lessons! 68 new investigators! (also a new record). This was an amazing week. Miracles happened in everyone's areas. It was so much fun. Our week was full of meetings, we had MLC and a zone training meeting to plan for and stake conference was this weekend. So as zone leaders, we had alot of meetings and planning we had to do, so we didn't get as much time as we would have liked to proselyte, but we spent alot of time talking with the areas and getting them excited to get out there and work. 

One thing that I learned this week is that we perform below our potential way too often. Some of the missionaries in this zone that have been teaching 14 or 15 lessons a week their whole mission, taught 60 or 70 this week! They are realizing their potential. It's so much bigger than what they think it is!! These missionaries pushed themselves harder than they ever have before and they did amazing things. I chose Phillipians 4:13 today because it's true. We really can do anything with the help of the Savior. This week was a huge blessing. All of the prayers and preparation that happened this week is what made it possible. When you do the Lord's work, you are entitled to the Lord's help. And we saw His hand in our lives this week. 

Well transfer calls were on Saturday night. Can you believe it's already been 12 weeks since I arrived here in Springdale. I can't. Obviously Elder Stapley is headed back to AZ. He's really excited. And I'm staying here in Springdale and my new companion's name is Elder Wadsworth. I've only met him once at a Zone Conference a while back but from what I've heard he is an awesome missionary. I'm excited to be here and I'm excited for whatever the Lord has planned for me next. I love this work and I'm so grateful that I have the opportunity to be serving the Lord and the people of the Oklahoma Tulsa Mission. I love you all! 

Love,

Elder Sherwood

 (e-mail from March 3rd)

D&C 88:73  Behold, I will ^ahasten my work in its time.

This past week was great. So much preparation for THIS week. Both Elder Stapley and I have been trying to overcome a nasty cold but we are feeling alot better. On Friday we traveled up to Rolla Missouri where we spent the night with the missionaries there and then on Saturday we continued up to the St. Louis Temple! It was an awesome day! There are no temples in our mission boundaries and of course if any missionary wants to leave the mission boundaries they have to get permission from President Shumway. So we had permission to go to the temple with a recent convert of Elder Stapley's that he taught in Rolla last year. She was going through the temple for her endowments and we were able to go!! It was so awesome. SOOOO much driving though. St Louis is really far away from Springdale Arkansas, haha. It was an amazing day. We were in the temple almost all day, from 8 am to around 3 pm. It was so nice to be in the temple after not getting the chance to be in one for the past 15 months! 

Anyways, we are going through a nasty snow/ice storm right now. These storms are the worst out here because they always start with freezing rain first, so you get this nice layer of ice on the ground, then that rain turns in to snow after a while. So you get a few inches of snow on top of an inch of ice and that makes everything really fun. Driving a car is like driving a huge sled. And walking is more like ice skating. It's great. 

Today is the first day that our zone is executing our equation.

1lesson/hour x 11 hours x 7 days x 13 areas = X    ;)

Our zone is so excited!!! I chose the scripture in the subject line because the Lord is really hastening his work. And if you aren't hopp’in on this train or as our mission president calls it, this "rocket ride", then you are really missing out! I love doing this work! I love the Gospel, I love teaching people about the gospel and about Jesus Christ. Pray for this zone! We need all the strength we can get! :) 

I love you all!

Love,

Elder Sherwood