Ephesians 1:7

July 9, 2014

This week was a great week. 4th of July is a big deal down here in Northwest Arkansas. On the third we saw a fireworks show with some members at a lake in Bella Vista called Loc Lomend. And then we spent the 4th kind of just like any other day out here. Visiting people. We had a lot of appointments with members. Too much food haha. Holidays out here really just mean so much food. Any excuse to eat a lot of food, they take it. 

One of our investigators, XXXXX, is getting baptized this weekend! It will be awesome. She's been investigating the church for almost 3 years. Another investigator XXXXX wants to be baptized as well. He is really excited about everything he's learned. He says that his whole life he knew that there was more than just the bible. It doesn't make sense to him that God could be contained in one volume of scripture. Which we happen to agree with. So we will be setting a baptismal date with him on Tuesday night. I'll let you know how it goes! :) Good things are happening here in Bella Vista Arkansas. 

So the stake presidency issued a challenge to all the leadership in the Rogers Arkansas Stake this past week. The challenge is for every Auxiliary Presidency member (president, 1st and 2nd counselors, secretary etc.) to have a referral for the missionaries by September 1st. That comes out to over 700 referrals for the 34 missionaries in the stake right now. It’s epic. Now of course that is a lofty goal. But that's okay. The members here will rise to the occasion. This challenge will really help the members here come out of their shells and open their mouths. They will be exercising a lot of faith in sharing their testimony of Jesus Christ and His gospel. After all that is our greatest responsibility. To share the gospel. The good news ya know! People won't be offended when you invite them to learn about the very thing that has brought you the most happiness in life. Sharing the gospel isn't about converting people, it's about offering them something that has brought you peace and joy. 

I love being a missionary. I love serving the Lord. And I love all of you! :) 

Love,

Elder Sherwood

John 14:27

Us in the car is just us cruis'n in our Grand Caravan. Coolest mission car ever.

                Just a typical scene on a Sunday night for zone leaders.   We were just collecting indicators (numbers) from the district leaders.

June 30, 2014

Good Morning! How are y’all doing?! 

This week was a good week. Nothing to crazy or exciting happened. I was on exchange in the Little Flock area in Rogers. It was a long rainy day of walking. That area doesn't have a car so we were on foot most of the day. I loved it though. This week was just a week of normal missionary work. It's crazy what normal is to me now. Normal for me is teaching people out here in Northwest Arkansas about Jesus Christ. Normal for me is always doing something, never stopping. Normal for me is always thinking about other people and how to help them develop a relationship with God and with Jesus Christ and with the Holy Ghost. It's not normal for all of that stuff to be normal. And I love it! 

Elder Van Woerkom and I have been thinking and discussing a lot lately about the principle of getting along with other people. Something I've noticed on my mission is how much people like to talk about themselves. It's kind of a sad reality, but it's true! People love to talk about themselves! The best way to get along with other people, to make real friends is to be genuinely interested in others. If we would all just forget ourselves and start being interested in other people the world would be much happier. It's really a Christlike attribute if you think about it. How would Jesus Christ carry on a conversation with you. I can't picture him talking your ear off, spilling all of His problems on to you. I think he would be genuinely interested in YOU. I love the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It's the best way to live your life. There is literally no other way to find the greatest happiness in this life. I love the gospel because it's principles are true principles that can be applied to every day life. We exercise faith in every thing we do, every step we take is an act of faith. Repentance, changing, becoming better, improving day by day, forgiving, being forgiven. These aren't just ideas that only work in a spiritual realm. These are real, matter of fact, fundamental principles of a happy life. I love the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I'm grateful for the opportunity I have to learn about it and to teach it to others. I love Jesus Christ. And I love all of you! :) 

Hope you liked my sermon haha. 

Love,

Elder Sherwood

Jacob 1:7-8

June 24, 2014

Hi! I chose those scriptures for the subject because they explain our purpose as missionaries perfectly. So if anyone is confused about what missionaries do, there ya go. 

This week was great! I'm a little bit upset right now because I forgot my planner at home and I had written a ton of stuff in there to tell y’all about. But I’ll do my best to remember. This week was a good week, we had three exchanges. On Tuesday I was in Bentonville with Elder Ingledue. On Wednesday I was in Bella Vista with Elder Hardman a brand new missionary. And on Friday we blitzed the area with the assistants. So it was a very hectic week but it was awesome. We did a lot of good work. We have a new investigator named XXXX. She is a member referral from a family here in the ward. I didn't get to teach her because I was in Bentonville that night. But she sounds awesome. Really interested, really sincere. 

It's getting harder for me to know what to write in these emails. I mean we pretty much do the same thing every week. Pretty much. Maybe another questionnaire is in order haha. 

Something I have been thinking a lot about recently (hopefully I didn't already tell y’all about this thought) actually comes from that scripture I put in the subject line. The phrase "bear the shame of the world" means a lot to me. After observing the way we choose to live our lives as Latter-day Saints or followers of Jesus Christ, it's easy to see that we are not normal. In many ways we are rebels in society today. We do not conform to social norms. We don't follow the crowd. Our standards remain on a higher level. That’s the way it has to be for a disciple of Jesus Christ. And it's not easy! We cannot be like those in Lehi's dream that taste the love of God and then turn away in shame because they can't handle the mocking or insults from the great and spacious building. We have to stand tall for what we know is right. We have to endure to the end. That's where real joy is found. Real happiness is found in living the gospel. I Love this work so much! And I love all of you! :)

Love,

Elder Sherwood

Mosiah 3:19

June 16, 2014

This week was a crazy week. We had MLC in Tulsa on Monday and Tuesday, an exchange with the Cassville Elders on Wednesday and Thursday, and a Zone training meeting Friday with a road trip to Fort Smith! It was a crazy busy week but it was awesome as usual. MLC was great. Elder Van and I instructed on Listening. Our mission is focusing a lot on becoming better teachers. And part of teaching is listening to people. Preach My Gospel has a section on listening that we instructed from. But to demonstrate our points we began the instruction with a discussion on why it's important to be good listeners. We asked a question to the group called on people to answer and then proceeded to be the worst listeners imaginable. We would ignore the person talking, talk to each other, flip through pages of notes, call on other people while someone was still talking etc. It was funny, and it got the point across. We don't ignore each other here, why would we ignore our investigators while they are talking. If you're not a missionary it might be hard to imagine that scene, but I think most missionaries understand what it takes to be a good listener. It's hard! So that was fun. 

I went on an exchange in Cassville on Wednesday.  Isn't that funny? Y’all had no idea that on Wednesday I was in Cassville Missouri doing missionary work. And then on Friday we drove an hour and a half to Fort Smith Arkansas. It's just funny to think about all of this objectively. We're two 20 year old guys traveling around Northwest Arkansas preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. It's so AWESOME! 

Anyways, zone training meeting on Friday was awesome. I won't bore you with details about the instruction. It was just a good meeting. There was an emergency transfer in our zone, so we had to transfer one of the elders here down to Fort Smith, that’s why we drove down there. I got to see Elder Koetting down there though! That was awesome. I miss that kid. He's so funny. I can't wait to see him after we are both home from our missions. 

Anyways, I'm really grateful for this opportunity. I love serving a mission. I love being a missionary. I love preaching the gospel. God lives, and he loves us. I love all of you too! :) 

love,

Elder Sherwood

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