Hebrew 4:16

June 9, 2014

Good Morning! This week was a great week! Not quite as exciting as the Glow Run last week, but still an exciting week. We have a few baptisms coming up. Sister XXXX is getting baptized in a few weeks, XXXXX in august, and we got two new investigators this past week that are awesome. XXX and XXX. They are a young couple. XXXX was raised semi Buddhist. So its really fun teaching her. I like teaching people about Jesus Christ. I love helping them realize what His atonement means for them. It's really hard sometimes! We have to explain with words the infinite atonement. The very act that redeems us from our fallen, mortal, imperfect, state. The act that brings peace, joy, happiness, comfort to our lives. How can you explain to someone this act! It's a challenge that I love. She's really learning a lot. She understands a lot of the doctrine and she knows a lot of bible stories from her own study, but I can't wait to see her start experiencing the change that living the gospel brings. 

Today we are headed to Tulsa for Mission Leadership Council. It’s very random now when we go to Tulsa and when we don't go to Tulsa. But I’m excited. I love going to Tulsa and spending the night in the mission home. I don't have a whole lot to say this week.  I'm just loving life. I love being a missionary. I just keep doing my best. Every day. I love the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I know that he lives and that He loves each one of us. I’m grateful for this opportunity I have to serve Him. I love you all! 

Love,

Elder Sherwood

1 Cor 13:11

June 2, 1014

This week was sweet!! On Friday we did some super unconventional missionary work. A few weeks ago we decided to start training for the Bentonville Glow Run. It is a two mile race in downtown Bentonville. So we have been semi training ourselves. Running a couple miles every morning. And this past Friday was the event. A kind sister in our ward sponsored us to run in the race. So we showed up Friday night ready to race, in a white shirt, glow ties, glowing nametags, slacks, and running shoes. It was glorious. We finished the race in pretty good time. We ran it in 15 minutes 19 seconds. Which is pretty good for being as out of shape as we are. We finished in the top 100, out of hundreds of people (8^th & 9^th in our age group), we speculate that there were about 1000 people running. We got so many funny comments. As we crossed the finish line the announcer said, "Glad we got the Mormons out tonight!"haha. People came up to us asking if we were just dressed up in costumes or if we were the real deal haha! We got a lot of exposure and hopefully caused a few good laughs. And now Bentonville knows that Mormons don't just ride bikes. 

Here is my words of wisdom for Alex for her report on my mission. The end of my mission is rapidly coming to a close. The months are beginning to feel like weeks. The urgency of this work is really pressing on me. My testimony and conviction of the truthfulness of the Gospel message is firm. I believe in Jesus Christ. I believe Jesus Christ. I believe Him when he says he can make us perfect. I love living the Gospel. I am by no means anywhere near perfect, and I still make mistakes every day. But I'm grateful for Jesus Christ and His atonement. I know that he loves us. I know that we have a Father in Heaven that loves us. That knows us. That wants to help us. I feel and see His hand in my life and in the lives of the people that I teach. Jesus Christ and His grace have the power to transform a life. I'm so grateful for this opportunity I've had to serve the people in the Oklahoma Tulsa Mission. And I love all of you! 

Love,
Elder Sherwood

Race Face

Warm up ??

The crowd

The finish line

Mormon 1:15

May 27

I love this scripture that I put in the subject line. We should all have that opportunity, even if we are older than 15. 

This week was awesome. We did really good work. We hit the new standard of excellence here in Bella Vista. 20 lessons, 60% member present, 2 new investigators and 1 investigator at church. We also had a baptism! XXXX was baptized on Friday. It was so sweet! I got to confirm her in sacrament meeting on Sunday. For those of you who aren't familiar with what that means, I'll explain. And hopefully even if you do know what that means, this will be interesting for you. After a person is baptized, they are able to receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost. Or the constant companionship of that member of the Godhead. In the book of Acts in the Bible, there are several instances where it mentions the gift of the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost was promised to us, by Jesus Christ, when he said, "But the comforter which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance". I love that scripture. The Holy Ghost is real. He comforts us and teaches us. I have felt his influence many times. It is only by the power of the Holy Ghost that we can know that Jesus Christ lives and that he loves us. So that was awesome on Sunday, I was able to lay my hands on XXXX’s head and confirm her a member of the Church and confer the Gift of the Holy Ghost, just like the apostles of old, with that same authority from God. 

Saturday was exciting haha, after helping with a move, we drove with the assistants up to Springfield Missouri to pick up a car for the Bentonville 1st elders, because one of them has a broken foot and is not allowed to ride his bike or walk around. That was an adventure. Again, how weird are we. We were excited to drive 2 hours almost to Springfield Missouri to pick up a truck and drive back. We encountered some pretty crazy weather during the trip. I've never seen so much rain in my life. 

Oh! Also, last night was sweet! XXXX, the 19 year old kid, whose family we live with. Is leaving for his mission today! So last night we get home and the stake president is at the house about to set XXXX apart as a full time missionary! So he let us stand in the circle with himself and XXXX's dad to set him apart! It was so sweet. How many missionaries get to say they set apart another missionary. Eh eh? pretty sweet huh?! haha I don't know if it's that rare. But it was awesome nonetheless. Very powerful. Anyways this week was good. I love you all! 

Love,

Elder Sherwood