December 30, 2014

December 30, 2014


MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!


So, I LOVED talking with y'all on Christmas!!!!!!!!!!! It was the BEST!!!!!!!

So updates from this week...

Hna Montesino no longer is my companion. They called Friday night and told us that they would be picking her up on Saturday morning and taking her to another area. We all wanted to cry; we were having SO MUCH fun together and seeing lots of Miracles, but we know that the Lords timing is perfect and that He is leading the work!!! I gave her the Forget Me Not bracelet to take with her: she loved it!!! I have learned SO MUCH from Hna. Montesino. She is exactly obedient and the most humblest person I know. She counts on the Lord always and trusts in His perfect plan for us!!!! And I wanted to ask if y'all could please write her. You could ask someone in the Spanish ward to translate what you want to say, because she hardly receives any emails from home. She was really grateful for all of the presents for Christmas. I am really thankful that Heavenly Father sent her to be with us for Christmas. I know it was planned by Him and not just by chance. I really needed to learn from her this last week and I needed the chance to share all the blessings He has giving me!!!! I am SO THANKFUL for a loving family who supports. It is a grand blessing that not everyone has and I sometimes take it for granted more than I should - I feel; but seriously, THANK YOU FOR ALL OF YOUR PRAYERS and letters and encouragement ALWAYS. I know I wouldn't be able to continue without you guys!!!!! I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So this week, Norma and Lester got married on Saturday afternoon and baptized on Sunday!!!! And little Karen, who is 9, was also baptized!!!! She was SO HAPPY!!!! It was SO CUTE!!!!! Her Mom has been inactive for years. She was baptized when she was 16 or 17 and now is coming back to church. She has plans to talk to the Bishop to make sure she is worthy to take the Sacrament or see what she needs to do to repent! She asked us the other day, "Can I still come back to church, or since I left is that possible?" We were like, OF COURSE it is possible!!!! You are always welcome to come to church and change!!! I testify as a Representative of Jesus Christ that through Christ we ALL can be made clean!!!! It doesn't matter how many times we have made the same stupid mistakes, if we are willing to come to him we can change and be purified through His Atoning sacrifice!!!!! Just start by being obedient, do the simple things, pray, ask for forgiveness, read the scriptures, go to church, talk to your bishop and take the sacrament!!!! It works every time for everyone!!!! The way is simple, but it just takes a lot of courage to stay on it!!!! Lester and Norma were SO HAPPY to be baptized. I asked Norma how she felt and she said, "Feliz to be completing another commandment from God!!!!" With a bright smile on her face!!!! Hna Markham and Pres. Markham were able to make it out to the baptismal service too and that was really special!!!!!

I LOVE the area!!!!! I LOVE this branch!!!!!!!! They are the BEST!!!!! We have LOTS of miracles headed our way!!!! THANKS FOR THE PRAYERS!!!!!! I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Love, Hna Tarah Ray Sherrod!!!!!!

December 23, 2014

December 23, 2014

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ILOVEYOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So haha, funny story, I now have 2 companions!!!!! So it happens that the city I'm in was 2 areas and there were four sisters, but we lived in different houses. But then on Friday at 9 in the morning Hna Funk who came to the other area in the city with me calls and tells me that the Asistants just told her that she has emergency changes and that her companion was going to be coming to live with us and we are going to be a trio!!!! Well let me tell you, we are having a BLAST!!!! It is SO MUCH fun working with the 3 of us!!!!! My new companion, Hna. Montecino is from Honduras!!! I always wanted to have a companion from Honduras and I didnt think I was going to get to have one!!!! Well looky there!!!! So she is AWESOME!!!!!! She is the MOST humblest person I have ever worked with. She LOVES the people with ALL her heart!!!! And her testimony is HUGE and strong!!!! Everytime she teaches I feel the Spirit!!!! And I just want to watch her, I am like, that is okay, just go ahead and teach the lesson... Haha!!!!! She has almost a year in the Mission, so I am still the senior companion of both, but they are both just such good Missionaries. They are willing to take more than there load of the work and LOVE being Missionaries. They LOVE working and work with ALL of their hearts, so I am VERY GRATEFUL for that Blessing from the Lord!!!!! So Hna. Alba finished her training on Sunday!!!!! SHE IS AMAZING!!!!! And since Hna Funk left I have now been given the responsibility of the Retencion for the Zone, which means I keep track of what converts from all of the branches in the Distrit are coming and receive revelation for what we can do to help them!!! This'll be fun!!!!

Well, we are preparing 8 people to be baptized on Sunday!!!! It is incredible you guys!!!!! INCREDIBLE!!!!! I feel like we haven't even done anything to receive these miracles that the Lord is just pouring out!!!!! Well, of course we are working hard, showing or Fe and praying, but really, The Lord just LOVES His children. I know its not me or my companions, but just the Blessing that we are in this area at this time when these 8 beautiful souls are readying to make their first covenant with God!!!! I hope to tell you more about them individually, but here are there names so that you can pray for them and take them to the Temple please!!! 

LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!

December 23, 2014

December 23, 2014

Re: Merry Christmas Eve Eve!!!!

YES!!!!!!!!!!!!! I GOT MY PACKAGES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THANK YOU SOOOOOOO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I got both packages and a package from Hna. Martineau full of letters from the young women!!!! Can you please tell her THANK YOU SOOOOOO MUCH!!!!! That I am SO GRATEFUL!!!!!!!!!!! I opened my blouse and skirt from Danelle, I LOVE IT!!!!! I used it yesterday!!!! Can you please tell her THANK YOU SOOOOOOO MUCH and that I LOVE the books too!!!!!!!! I am not in the area with Javier still, but I am going to send it to him and the Oreos to Hna. Macias!!!! She will be SOOOOOOOO EXCITED!!!!!!!!! But tell EVERYONE, Danelle, the Rickers, Boothes, Wilsons, Sherrods, Campbells, Dutsons, my friends and the ward that I LOVE them ALL SO MUCH!!!! To the end of counting and LOTS, LOTS more!!!!!! And I wish them a Merry Christmas!!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE Y'ALL!!!!!!!!!!! I am SO HAPPY to be talking to y'all in 2 days!!!! WHOOHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

December 16, 2014

December 16, 2014

Okay, I am going to see how fast I can write all of this!!!!!!

SO I LOVE LIFE!!!!!!!!! I LOVE THE MISSION!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have been sent to the MOST BEAUTIFUL area in the WHOLE MISSION, to the MOST BEAUTIFUL BRANCH!!!!!!!! Yes, I am here in the coast, a little bit farther than Santa Lucia where I was before in a beautiful town where EVERYONE is nice and friendly!!!! I feel like I have come home!!!!! I know this is where I am suppose to be!!!! And it makes me seriously sad to think one day soon I won't be here, so that is why I do not think about it!! Haha!!! And really this last week I haven't even had time to have thoughts about after the Mission, because I have been too caught up in the wonderful work that is happening in this area!!!!!

I dont know what these people are doing to receive SO MANY Blessings, but he is just POURING THEM OUT!!!! Literally pouring!!!! The flood gates have been opened!!!! So let me tell you as many as I possibly can before my time is up!!! Well first and foremost, I LOOOOOOOVE MY COMPANION!!!!! Her name is Hna. Alb, she is from Mexico, she is 24!! She doesn't speak English, but dont worry we are working on that!!! We are reading out loud in the Book of Mormon in English everyday and working in the study book that they give the Latinos learning English!!!! She is picking it up fast!!! She will be fluent in no time!!!! She is a GOOD MISSIONARY!!!! She is here Serving with ALL her heart and she LOVES the people. She is a true messenger of the truth and LOVE of Christ!!!! I can feel the Spirit testify through her!!! I LOVE her and am SO THANKFUL to be working with her!!!! She is teaching me A LOT!!!! The best is that she already had several weeks in the Mission field when I received her, and although I think it would be fun to train a fresh newbie how to contact a bus, I am really thankful that we can just start working together as companions and that she already feels and knows her place as a Missionary!!!! She is good at expressing concerns and suggestions. We are communicating well, teaching unity and becoming better Missionaries together!!! So yeah, I am having a BLAST!!!! Well, so for miracles!!! We had 10 people attending church!!! 10!!!! I dont remember EVER having 10 people in church!!!!! And they just came to church!!!! We brought one family, Nanci and Mario de Leon and the rest just came of their own accord with the members!!!! Please pray for Nanci and Mario; they have accepted to be baptized the 28th of December, so we will be preparing them for that date!!! Please pray that they will receive a stronger testimony always and be able to quit drinking coffee and that they will be prepared the 28th!!! It was their first time attending church this week, but they like it A LOT and we have a appointment with them today!!!! Also we have had A LOT of success with the leaders here. Our branch president, is AWESOME!!!! We have already had a Family Home Evening in his house that he sent up with our investigador, Lesbia and invited us to!!!! Haha!!!! He is pilas!!!! Wow, time flies and I have got to go, but I am putting a list of names at the end that y'all can pray for!!! Please do so!!!!! We need your strong Fe to see the miracles and baptize every week this change!!!!! 

I LOVE YOU SOOOOOO MUCH!!!!!!! THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Really I cannot express just how much I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE being a Missionary!!!! I AM SOOOOO THANKFUL to feel this HAPPINESS here with these people that I have never before felt in my Mission and in my life!!!! I am seeing how every Blessing that I have been given in the Mission or before is being fulfilled!!!! I remember how I felt a year ago with depression and how happy I feel now. I am SO THANKFUL that the Lord healed me, because I know my Mission is something I will never forget. The lessons I have learned are precious for this life and for ALL of Eternity!!!!! I LOVE the Lord!!!! I TESTIFY THAT HE LIVES AND LOVES YOU!!!!!!! Follow Him!!!! Be made whole by him!!!!! Read, ponder and pray mightily and go to church!!!! Do everything in remembrance of Him and you will always have a shining light to lead the way!!!!!! LOVE, Hna. Tarah Ray Sherrod

December 9, 2014

December 9, 2014

Well, I am sorry to hear that everyone is sick!!! Yikes!!! I am going to be praying for you!!! And hey, I am going to need your prayers of great Fe for my health too, because guess what, I AM GOING BACK TO THE COAST!!!!!!!! YUP!!!! I have changes!!! Well, it turns out that I actually had changes last Thursday, because they took us out of our area out of the blue!!! It was a little dangerous in the area we were at and President had no idea. Once he found out that it was considered a bit of a red zone where we were, they took us out. They are sending Elderes there tomorrow when we have changes. Good thing, because we had 4 people with bauptismal dates!!!! AAHH!!!! I was working hard on those bauptisms!!!! Oh well, The Lord definitely knows best!!!

I know that Domingo, Rachel, Cesar and Edgar will be baptized. The Elders will take good care of them!!! It was actually pretty cool, because it had been reported to the security of the church that dangerous things were happening near our area, so the head of security from all of Central America comes in his awesome FBI looking vehicle to scout out the area to see if we should be there or not. Turns out we shouldn´t, but it was sure a cool experience riding around with him! So that would answer the question, that no, I am no longer teaching Brenda and Miguel. They hadn´t been able to come to church and it was getting a little hard to find them, so it seems to be the will of the Lord! I have their number to be able to contact them later though. And I am going to keep in touch with the people we were teaching, so that I can still support them after they are baptized! Because even though I am not going to be there when they are baptized, I helped teach them and I LOVE each one of them SO MUCH!!!! 

Well, we have been in the area of the Training Sisters for the last week and let me tell you, I JUST LOVE IT. I always wanted to Serve here, because I have had A LOT of companions that served here and they have all told me just how GREAT and AMAZING the ward is and how dedicated to the Mission work they are. And it is SO TRUE. They are just AMAZING. I felt SO MUCH love for them. Really I know the Lord knew I needed the experience of coming here, because these people have impacted my life. And HAPPY DAY, Hna. Flor that I taught in Rivera de Rio, she is living here now. So, I have been able to teach her. It has been awesome. I had come to this area a couple of times for divisiones before so it wasn't too overwhelming to try and learn the area. And its cool to help a few people, mainly converts that I taught in divisiones before. I feel like the Lord sent us here with LOTS of purpose. I have been able to help a few of the investigadores and families here in just a few days and it has made me excited to serve well and see miracles in my next area. Oh, and we have had SO MUCH fun teaching and living with the four of us. One day I go with one of the sisters and the next the other. I have learned SO MUCH from them of how to be a better teacher. For that I am SO GRATEFUL. So back to the coast comment... Well Saturday night, I received a phone call from the assistants and the Elder said, Hermana, I dont want you to say anything until I have finished talking. I said, okay... And then he started, Hermana, a trainer is someone who effects the way a missionary will Serve their whole mission... I just went OH MY GOSH... I HAVE BEEN CALLED TO BE A TRAINER.  And I believe I am going to the coast to do it, SO PLEASE PRAY FOR ME. I still feel like I have A LOT to improve, but I feel the support of the Lord. I know He has Called me to do it. Pray that I can be a help to this new Missionary. I know I am going to Serve her and LOVE her. Just please pray for me. Well, I gotta go. I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH THANKS FOR THE PRAYERS Love, Hna Tarah Ray Sherrod

December 2, 2014

December 2, 2014

So this week...
So, to answer questions, no Doming was not baptized. He went to visit some cousins and of course its the classic Satan like to attack before baptism thing. But we saw him yesterday, he is doing good, he still wants to be baptized!!!! He accepted his baptismal date for this Sunday!!!! So please send LOTS of Fe and prayers His way!!!! And our way to know how we can help him!!!! He is a good kid!!! He really, as we all do, needs the Gospel in His life!!! I know that being baptized and receiving the Holy Ghost will not only change His future in this life, but for the Eternities!!! The enemigo always attacks the strongest, just remember if you are having trials, its because you are worth it!!! Not because God has forgotten you!!!! And because God has not forgotten you and you know it, the enemy won't either and he will constantly try to lead you from the path, but you can continue on!!! You can endure to the end and overcome, because Christ did!!!!!

Have y'all seen the new video released by the church?!!! He is the Gift?!!! You really should!!! It is GREAT!!!!! We received a disc of it and are sharing it with EVERYONE here!!!! It is really powerful!!!! Please share it with the Davises!!! And all!!!! And ask them and yourselves what Gift you are going to give to Heavenly Father and Christ this year!!!! You will see miracles and feel the LOVE and the miracle of Christ's Atoning sacrifice for us!!!!!!

So Domingo is going to be baptized this Sunday and also a 14 year old girl, Rachel Lara!!!! This girl is PILAS!!!! She is the best friend of an awesome young woman, Abigail that ALWAYS is willing to help us!!! She came to church the last two Sundays and she received her answer that Joseph Smith was a Prophet and this is the true church!!!! It was a miracle. We did a lot of service for her mom and her, helping to wash clothes and dishes and it wasn't even hard asking for the mom's permission, she just gave it to us!!!!! Service really is a pure form of LOVE and I know that as we serve others, people we like and people we dont get along with especially, will ALWAYS bring others unto Christ. His Spirit will always be with us and we will receive a remission of our sins!!!! And the pure joy that comes. with ALL of that!!!!!

I LOVE the Lord!!!!!!! I am SOOOOOOO GRATEFUL for His Atoning Sacrifice!!! And the power of His LOVE and of Service!!!!! I am so grateful to be His Representative!!!! I testify that He lives and LOVES YOU!!!!! THANKS FOR EVERYTHING!!!!!!!!!!!!! ALL THE PRAYERS OF FE!!!!!!!! We feel your LOVE and help!!!!!!!!!!!! Love, Hermana Tarah Ray Sherrod!!!!!

December 2, 2014

December 2, 2014

AWE!!!! I miss Purrls!!!! Please tell her I LOVE HER!!! haha!!!! Its good to hear that she is still her crazy self!!!!

I am glad y'all kept up with tradition and went to the Temple Thanksgiving weekend!!!! I will be glad to join in with y'all next year!!! But not with my fiance yet I hope!!! Haha!!!! I miss Manti!!!!

It will be cool to go all together again!!!! That will have to be one of the first things we do when I get back!!! But yeah, we aren't going to think about that yet!!!! (Just makes sure you have the spaghetti cooking!!!!) :)

I am glad you got to enjoy the Spirit!!!!! I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!! Knowing y'all are doing good, physically and Spiritually is the BEST news I could have!!!!!!! I LOVE YALL!!!!!!!!!! LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LE AMO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanksgiving Greeting

December 2, 2014

RE: HAPPY THANKSGIVING AT 11:17!!!!!!

I hope y'all had a FANTASTIC THANKSGIVING!!!!!!

I was praying for y'all!!!!!!! I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I LOVE Y'ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!