January 27, 2015
So this week was FANTASTIC!!!! We didn't have a baptism, but we did see
miracles!!!!! Miracles everyday are the best!!!! So, this week we had
really cool lessons where my companion and I both felt the Spirit SO
STRONGLY!!!! Some of them were with people who at the end of the lesson
still weren't willing to act on our message, but we know we did what we were
supposed to do, because the Spirit was there testifying and we learned from
what we taught!! Others were receptive to our message and that is such a
Blessing and Miracle!!! We hope to see new faces in church this Sunday!!!!
Our attendance in church went down this week, but we have been working A LOT
with the less active members!!! We had 25 lessons with less actives this
week!!! And I felt the Spirit SO STRONGLY as one family, the family Muy
Mejicanos, who needs to be sealed, chose a specific date to go to the
Temple!!! 23rd of May!!!! I felt as happy as I do when people accept a
specific date to be baptized!!!!! Because it is the next step they are
taking to grow closer to God, entering into another, higher covenant
with Him!!!! It was really COOL!!! And taught me A LOT!!!!!
Well, I would just like to give my testimony now, since I don't know if I
will be able to give it as a set apart Representative of Jesus Christ in
person:
I know that Jesus Christ is the Savior and Redeemer of the world, that He
lives and LOVES us!!! I know that God lives and is our Loving Heavenly
Father!!!! I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is
the true church of God!!!! I know that He has restored this church Himself
by calling a living Prophet in these days, Joseph Smith!!! I know that
Thomas S. Monson is Called of God as a prophet to lead the church today!!!
I know, without a single doubt that the Book of Mormon and the Bible are
the words of God!!!! And I know that the Book of Mormon was written for
YOU and your sons and daughters, your husbands and wives and all to lead
you through this life!!!! I know it and I can never deny it!!!! I would
rather suffer and die than deny the truth in my heart!!!! And that is why I
have spent the last year and half here in Guatemala!!!! It has been the
MOST wonderful experience of this life that Heavenly Father has given me!!!
And I know that only a million more wonderful experiences wait for me at
home and that is why I must return!!! I know that one of those experiences
will be seeing my whole family in the Temple one day, preparing to meet
God. And my family stretches beyond just blood lines!!! My family is every
single one of you that read this testimony!!! We are all children of the
Most High God!!!! I testify that YOU are a child of God!!!! We have a home
prepared for us on high that we should be striving to obtain!!!! As we
Serve our Lord and Savior, looking at the things we have to sacrifice as a
privilege, I know we find the greatest joy and greatest peace possible in
our lives here on earth and in our life to come with our Heavenly Father in
His Celestial Kingdom!!! When I was set apart, I was promised in my setting
apart Blessing that EVERY person I know would be Blessed for my Service
in the Mission. Please know that God LOVES YOU and is aware of YOU and your
specific needs!!! I know He is Blessing you. I dont know all things, but I
know He LOVES His children PERFECTLY!!!! I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!
And I LOVE our Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ!!! I am SO THANKFUL
for every miracle of everyday!!! He LIVES!!!! He LOVES US!!!! I leave these
things with you in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen
Well I gotta get to work!!!! LOVE YOU SOOOO MUCH!!!!!!
LOVE,
Hna Sherrod!!!!!
January 21, 2015
January 21, 2015
Okay, so this week on Tarah's Mission.... So no, Erick was not bauptized. His mom went all weird and said that he didn't know what he was doing and he needed to attend church with her at another church... Yeah.... But THANK YOU FOR ALL of the prayers!!!!!!! I know that Heavenly Father has a GREAT Miracle planned for us this week!!!!!!!! So we had interviews yesterday. Because, it is my final interview, it took like 40 minutes!!!! It was a REALLY good interview!!!!! It helped me think about things clearly and set some good goals!!!!! Pres. Markham invited me to make a covenant with him and well with Heavenly Father too that when I get back I will never be alone with a guy after midnight and that if we are alone and its midnight either he has to go or I have too!!!! hahaha!!!! I call it the Cinderella Covenant!!!!! And I am going to be sticking to it!!!! Sorry boys!!! haha!!!! Well yeah, there was a really cool miracle yesterday!!!! We were on the bus coming back from Tiquisate, its like an hour and 15mins by bus. I contacted the bus, got up in front and invited everyone to listen to our message. I shared my testimony of Joseph Smith and The Book of Mormon. After talking to the people asking for their names and numbers, I sat down and began to read my letters. But then Elder Geertsen comes up, our district leader, and tells us that we should continue to talk to the people; just talk to them as people. Get to know them and it would give them a better out look on the church. Well, we got up and I went to talk to a sweet girl I had gotten a direction from in front. It turns out her boyfriend just died and she was worried about if it were possible for him to be forgiven after this life. I ended up teaching her all about bauptisms for the dead. I have never done that in a contact before. But I gave her a pamphlet of the Plan of Salvation and a Book of Mormon. She said she would go to church!!!! She doesn't live in our area, but it was a miracle for me!!!!!! It was truly an inspired idea to be more diligent from Elder Geertsen!!!!! Oh man how I LOVE being a Missionary!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Have a GREAT WEEK!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THANKS FOR ALL THE PRAYERS!!!!!!!!!!!!! KEEP IT UP!!!!!!!!!!! Your Fe brings MIRACLES every week for us here!!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
LOVE, Hna Sherrod!!!!!!!!!!!!
Okay, so this week on Tarah's Mission.... So no, Erick was not bauptized. His mom went all weird and said that he didn't know what he was doing and he needed to attend church with her at another church... Yeah.... But THANK YOU FOR ALL of the prayers!!!!!!! I know that Heavenly Father has a GREAT Miracle planned for us this week!!!!!!!! So we had interviews yesterday. Because, it is my final interview, it took like 40 minutes!!!! It was a REALLY good interview!!!!! It helped me think about things clearly and set some good goals!!!!! Pres. Markham invited me to make a covenant with him and well with Heavenly Father too that when I get back I will never be alone with a guy after midnight and that if we are alone and its midnight either he has to go or I have too!!!! hahaha!!!! I call it the Cinderella Covenant!!!!! And I am going to be sticking to it!!!! Sorry boys!!! haha!!!! Well yeah, there was a really cool miracle yesterday!!!! We were on the bus coming back from Tiquisate, its like an hour and 15mins by bus. I contacted the bus, got up in front and invited everyone to listen to our message. I shared my testimony of Joseph Smith and The Book of Mormon. After talking to the people asking for their names and numbers, I sat down and began to read my letters. But then Elder Geertsen comes up, our district leader, and tells us that we should continue to talk to the people; just talk to them as people. Get to know them and it would give them a better out look on the church. Well, we got up and I went to talk to a sweet girl I had gotten a direction from in front. It turns out her boyfriend just died and she was worried about if it were possible for him to be forgiven after this life. I ended up teaching her all about bauptisms for the dead. I have never done that in a contact before. But I gave her a pamphlet of the Plan of Salvation and a Book of Mormon. She said she would go to church!!!! She doesn't live in our area, but it was a miracle for me!!!!!! It was truly an inspired idea to be more diligent from Elder Geertsen!!!!! Oh man how I LOVE being a Missionary!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Have a GREAT WEEK!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THANKS FOR ALL THE PRAYERS!!!!!!!!!!!!! KEEP IT UP!!!!!!!!!!! Your Fe brings MIRACLES every week for us here!!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
LOVE, Hna Sherrod!!!!!!!!!!!!
January 13, 2014
January 13, 2014
Okay, so THANK YOU SOOOOOOO MUCH for your prayers!!!!!! Maricella was baptized on Sunday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It is amazing how the Lord just has a perfect plan!!!!! There were a few conflicts on Saturday for her interview and on Sunday in the morning, but everything worked out as it should!!!!!! This is the 3rd week in a row the Lord has blessed us with at least one precious soul, another brother or sister ready to accept the true Gospel and take the next step to draw closer and return to our Heavenly Father!!!!! I am SO GRATEFUL to be the instrument in the Lords hands!!!!! Every day more in the Mission I feel that really we are nothing to the power of God, we really are nothing to Him, but to Him we are EVERYTHING!!!!!! I know that our Heavenly Father LOVES US ALL!!!!!! We had a really cool experience this week, we were on Divisiones with the other sisters and one of them contacted a elderly lady and she said that we could teach her, but not right then, because everyone was home. Well we passed by a few days later on Sunday and she was outside again. I started to talk to her and she only paid half attention. Then I said her name (because we had written it down when we contacted her) and she looked at me and then said we could come in. As we started teaching her, I felt impressed to ask if she lived there with her husband. She said that she didn't, that he had passed away 3 years ago. We started teaching the Plan of Salvaciona and instead of starting at the beginning, I started explaining that we all die, but it is the plan of God and that we go to the Spirit world. We testified that God LOVES us all and she just began to cry. I went and hugged her and asked her what she felt. She answered that she felt just so alone. I began to testify to her that God loves her and that she is never alone and in that moment, the Spirit just came over me and I felt the Spirit tell me that we were there because her husband has listened to the lessons in Spirit prison and has accepted the Gospel and he is ready to be bauptized!!! I told her and it brought her a lot of peace!!!! I dont know how it even happened, but I am SOOOO thankful to feel the Spirit working through me like that!!!!!! I felt it should of been counted as a reference from the Heavens in our dats for the week!!!! :D :D :D Yesterday I got to spend the day with Sandra again!!!! We went to San Lucas!!! Where they think the Waters of Mormon are!!!! It was an AMAZING experience!!!! I cant wait to share it all with you one day!!!!!! Have a GREAT week!!!!! Keep inviting people to church!!!!!! Keep doing your duty!!!!! haha!!!! I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!!!!!! THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh and please pray for Erick, he got permission to be bauptized, but Satan is attacking!!!! We need your prayers so that he can be bauptized this weekend!!!!!! Take courage!!!!! have Fe!!!!! We will see miracles!!!!!! We are going to baptize every week, because it is the Lords will and we are giving it all to Him!!!!! LOVE YALL!!!!!!!
Love, Hna Sherrod!!!!!!!
January 6, 2015
January 6, 2015
I LOVE YOU ALL SOOOOOO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So this week...
Hermana L.M. WAS BAPTIZED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She is 22: she just got married a month ago today to her husband who is a member!!!!!!!! She comes from the mountains where they talk another dialect. She actually doesn't speak it, just understands it. It has been really cool teaching her, because she had of course heard of Jesus Christ, but had no idea who he really is. We were trying to explain and I just felt that she needed to be shown rather than told. And since I have always been a fan of movies, we had a family home evening with her in the home of the branch president to watch a 30 min video of the Atonement and it just changed EVERYTHING!!!! This was more than a week ago now, but before that she had never accepted a sure date to be baptized. But after seeing the video, it was a sure, yes!!!!! And now she is baptized and in a year she and her husband can be sealed to become an Eternal Family!!!!!!!!
I AM SO THANKFUL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We have baptized 2 weeks in a row and we have 2 people for this Sunday!!!!!!! One is 18 and the boyfriend of a member. They werent living the law of Chasity, but we had a very good lesson, full of the Spirit and they both commited to live the law of Chasity!!!!! I really felt that we were teaching them both and not just giving a lesson when we taught them!!!!! It was AMAZING!!!!! Oh and funny story, we were talking about what things were appropriate before and after marriage and they were asking questions and my companion answered, well we aren't really experts at this, but....
I just BUSTED up laughing and said, we aren't anything at this!!!! What are you saying?!!!!!
We all laughed, it was pretty great!!!!! Haha!!!!!
I got to go see Sandra and her girls yesterday!!!! THE BEST EVER!!!!!! It was GREAT!!!!!
Gotta go!!!!! LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!
Love,
Hermana Sherrod!!!!!!!!!
January 6, 2015
January 6, 2015
Re: Happy First Tuesday of the Year!!!
I haven’t received an itinerary yet either!!!!!!! I SURE HOPE THAT MEANS I AM EXTENDING!!!!!!!!!! THAT WOULD BE AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!! But no, I don’t think so, I just dont think they have sent them out yet... We will see!!!!
The thing is, in my group there are 22 sisters that are leaving and I know at least half of us or more want to extend, so really no one can, because it would be too many, because we are also receiving 14 sisters when we go, so yeah... It is sad, but I am just Serving my Heart out with the time I have left to dedicate all my time to the Lord. It really is such a special privilege to be a Missionary!!!!!!!! We dont have anything else to do, but Serve the Lord!!!!!!!!!! All day long!!!!!!!!!!
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!!!!!!!!!!!
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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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
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!!!!!
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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
November 25, 2014
November 25, 2014
LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!
Okay, well I have some COOL, but COOL stories to tell this week!!!! So lets see, first... Yesterday we were sharing something with Hna Stephanie after church. It was awesome because we were just outside on the grass enjoying the Spirit and the warm sun!!!! It was AWESOME!!!! Well we hadn't really planned out what we were going to be sharing for her because it was just a lesson out of nowhere, but I just started talking and some how it led into Martrimonio Eterno, (Eternal Marriage) because we were talking about the Temple. She had gone to the temple last Thursday, she didn't go in, she wanted to but plans changed and she just got to go enjoy the outside for a bit!!! I was disappointed that she didn't end up being able to go in, but she said she felt the Spirit outside and loved it!!! She is excited to go again soon and take family names!!!! Stephanie is the only member in her family right now, she was the first to have the courage to be baptized!!!! Her family will soon follow!!! Yo se!!! One of her sisters came to the church for her confirmation, but came late and then left right after Sacrament ended. She regularly attends the Catholic church, but we are praying for her! You can too! Her name is Caroline! And we just met her little brother Wilber yesterday, who is 14, I think... I hope to tell you more of the story of how we met him in a second, but he could really progress in these next few weeks too!!! We are going to be working with him!!!! But so Stephanie's mom has been giving her a bit of a hard time for her decision to be baptized and it has been a bit trying for her, but we are praying for her mom and I know things will turn around and I know she has her Savior at her side!!!! Listen to this: So we were teaching yesterday after church about eternal marriage and the goal of going to the Temple when I felt out of no where to express that Christ feels everything she feels, that all that is happening right now adjusting to living the Gospel, is hard, but that is okay, because He truly understands!!!!! I shared how my companion accidentally burnt herself the other day, when she was making me breakfast actually, and I used the experience as an example to show that I dont have the pain of her burn so its hard for me to remember sometimes that she is hurt, but she does all the time because she feels it! I was sharing that even if it seems like others have forgotten us at times, we can ALWAYS know that our Savior has not forgotten us, because He literally feels all the pain that we are passing through!!! He can not forgot us!!!! We are imprinted on His hands and feet!!! 1 Nephi 21:15!!!!! And then it was really cool because she asked if we pray out loud. We answered that yes we pray out loud together as companions through out the day and in our personal prayers we also pray out loud sometimes. And then she told us that the Sunday before when she had knelt down to pray, she felt sad and frustrated with the situation with her mom and then as she was praying she heard my voice, my companion's voice and the voice of Hna Luna praying for her!!!! And she knew we loved her and she wasn't alone!!!! HOW AMAZING IS THAT?!!!!!! I honestly dont know how the Lord works miracles like that, but oh He does!!! I am SO GRATEFUL!!!!!! SO GRATEFUL to know that the Lord LIVES and LOVES us!!!!! That He is here for us!!!!!! EVERY SINGLE STEP of the way!!!!! Well lets see, so like I mentioned before in other letters, I believe, the Familia Luna are PILAS!!!! But seriously, PILISIMAS!!!!! They ALWAYS help us with whatever they can do they are ALWAYS SO HAPPY to help!!!!!!! W are SO THANKFUL for them!!!!! Like the other night we where in a sketchy part of town and we felt a little sacred so we called them to see if they could give us a ride home so we wouldn't have to walk alone back to the house, because it was almost 9. Their car is really old and I dont know how it is still running but they came and got us and took us home! And when I saw them I noticed that Hna Luna was in her pajamas and I asked, "Were y'all sleeping when I called?!" They had been, but they were not upset whatsoever, just happy to help!!!! :D :D :D I know that they are building there Home on High!!!! They to me are the PERFECT example of 3 Nephi 13: 19-21!!!! "Lay up your treasures in Heaven, where moth and dust do not corrupt... because where your treasure is there will be your heart also."!!!!!!! They live in a tiny little house that is made of metal sheets and hard plastic, but I can testify that their mansion in the Heavens is GINORMOUS and GORGEOUS!!!!! They are teaching me SO MUCH of how I can really put what matters first and Serve the Lord with all my heart!!! They have so little physically, but SO MUCH joy Spiritually in their home!!!! We got to spend almost the whole day yesterday with them after we gave our house a good cleaning job, a few cock roaches and flies had to be evicted. ;) We played soccer and ate lunch with them!!!! It was THE BEST!!!!! I have pictures, but I forgot my camera. I will send them along later! I Hope y'all get to meet them one day!!!! I told them I was going to bring my brothers to play soccer!!!! Well I have got to go!!!! But I LOVE Y'ALL!!!!!! HAVE A GREAT WEEK!!!!!!!! Love, Hna Tarah Ray Sherrod!!!! Please pray for Doming and Alan y Aridane. We are preparing them to be baptized on Sunday!!!! THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!
Okay, well I have some COOL, but COOL stories to tell this week!!!! So lets see, first... Yesterday we were sharing something with Hna Stephanie after church. It was awesome because we were just outside on the grass enjoying the Spirit and the warm sun!!!! It was AWESOME!!!! Well we hadn't really planned out what we were going to be sharing for her because it was just a lesson out of nowhere, but I just started talking and some how it led into Martrimonio Eterno, (Eternal Marriage) because we were talking about the Temple. She had gone to the temple last Thursday, she didn't go in, she wanted to but plans changed and she just got to go enjoy the outside for a bit!!! I was disappointed that she didn't end up being able to go in, but she said she felt the Spirit outside and loved it!!! She is excited to go again soon and take family names!!!! Stephanie is the only member in her family right now, she was the first to have the courage to be baptized!!!! Her family will soon follow!!! Yo se!!! One of her sisters came to the church for her confirmation, but came late and then left right after Sacrament ended. She regularly attends the Catholic church, but we are praying for her! You can too! Her name is Caroline! And we just met her little brother Wilber yesterday, who is 14, I think... I hope to tell you more of the story of how we met him in a second, but he could really progress in these next few weeks too!!! We are going to be working with him!!!! But so Stephanie's mom has been giving her a bit of a hard time for her decision to be baptized and it has been a bit trying for her, but we are praying for her mom and I know things will turn around and I know she has her Savior at her side!!!! Listen to this: So we were teaching yesterday after church about eternal marriage and the goal of going to the Temple when I felt out of no where to express that Christ feels everything she feels, that all that is happening right now adjusting to living the Gospel, is hard, but that is okay, because He truly understands!!!!! I shared how my companion accidentally burnt herself the other day, when she was making me breakfast actually, and I used the experience as an example to show that I dont have the pain of her burn so its hard for me to remember sometimes that she is hurt, but she does all the time because she feels it! I was sharing that even if it seems like others have forgotten us at times, we can ALWAYS know that our Savior has not forgotten us, because He literally feels all the pain that we are passing through!!! He can not forgot us!!!! We are imprinted on His hands and feet!!! 1 Nephi 21:15!!!!! And then it was really cool because she asked if we pray out loud. We answered that yes we pray out loud together as companions through out the day and in our personal prayers we also pray out loud sometimes. And then she told us that the Sunday before when she had knelt down to pray, she felt sad and frustrated with the situation with her mom and then as she was praying she heard my voice, my companion's voice and the voice of Hna Luna praying for her!!!! And she knew we loved her and she wasn't alone!!!! HOW AMAZING IS THAT?!!!!!! I honestly dont know how the Lord works miracles like that, but oh He does!!! I am SO GRATEFUL!!!!!! SO GRATEFUL to know that the Lord LIVES and LOVES us!!!!! That He is here for us!!!!!! EVERY SINGLE STEP of the way!!!!! Well lets see, so like I mentioned before in other letters, I believe, the Familia Luna are PILAS!!!! But seriously, PILISIMAS!!!!! They ALWAYS help us with whatever they can do they are ALWAYS SO HAPPY to help!!!!!!! W are SO THANKFUL for them!!!!! Like the other night we where in a sketchy part of town and we felt a little sacred so we called them to see if they could give us a ride home so we wouldn't have to walk alone back to the house, because it was almost 9. Their car is really old and I dont know how it is still running but they came and got us and took us home! And when I saw them I noticed that Hna Luna was in her pajamas and I asked, "Were y'all sleeping when I called?!" They had been, but they were not upset whatsoever, just happy to help!!!! :D :D :D I know that they are building there Home on High!!!! They to me are the PERFECT example of 3 Nephi 13: 19-21!!!! "Lay up your treasures in Heaven, where moth and dust do not corrupt... because where your treasure is there will be your heart also."!!!!!!! They live in a tiny little house that is made of metal sheets and hard plastic, but I can testify that their mansion in the Heavens is GINORMOUS and GORGEOUS!!!!! They are teaching me SO MUCH of how I can really put what matters first and Serve the Lord with all my heart!!! They have so little physically, but SO MUCH joy Spiritually in their home!!!! We got to spend almost the whole day yesterday with them after we gave our house a good cleaning job, a few cock roaches and flies had to be evicted. ;) We played soccer and ate lunch with them!!!! It was THE BEST!!!!! I have pictures, but I forgot my camera. I will send them along later! I Hope y'all get to meet them one day!!!! I told them I was going to bring my brothers to play soccer!!!! Well I have got to go!!!! But I LOVE Y'ALL!!!!!! HAVE A GREAT WEEK!!!!!!!! Love, Hna Tarah Ray Sherrod!!!! Please pray for Doming and Alan y Aridane. We are preparing them to be baptized on Sunday!!!! THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
November 17, 2014
November 17, 2014
So this week....
Okay!!!!! So to answer Mom's question from the other email: YES!!!! We are still teaching Brenda and Miguel!!! They weren't there when we knocked in the morning to take them to church. But we did have a short lesson with Brenda earlier in the week and from what I understood she did pray and ask about Joseph Smith and said she felt good!! We found her in the morning on like Wednesday and right as we came, her dad who doesn't actually live there, but actually lives near the Temple was there and he told us that he and his wife are members of the church!!! That they were baptized about 4 years ago!!!!! HOW COOL IS THAT?!!!!!! He doesn't have a phone, so it'll be hard to communicate with him, but we did get his address so that we can tell him to come when they are going to baptized. They dont have a baptismal date yet, because its been hard to teach them, they haven't been home and such, but we are going to keep trying!!!! I have Fe!!! I feel that God sent me to them or them to me!!! And if I dont do anything else in this area I want to baptize them!!!
But speaking of the area, we are actually teaching A LOT of positive people!!!! We found this girl this week Kenia, who is 18. We found her two weeks ago and just shared something short and left a pamphlet, but when we came back on Saturday she had read it all!!! And she understood everything. We explained about how Christ's church was organized and how it was restored by Joseph Smith!!! At the end of the lesson in her prayer, she asked that she would be able to feel that this all was true!!!! She is GOLDEN!!! Please pray for her!!!!
Also this other boy we are teaching, Domingo came to church on Sunday!!!! He has a baptismal date for the 30th of this month!!! Please pray hard for him!!!! He is a good kid!!! And has a good desire to be baptized!!! He just has a hard time reading in the Book of Mormon and its hard for him to stay reverent in the lessons, because is SO FUNNY!!!! Every lesson he has us laughing SO HARD!!!!
So, that is how it is going with teaching for the most part!!! We had a couple of cool teaching experiences teaching people who dont actually live in our area, but we passed them on as references to the other areas. There was this one lady that said 10 years ago she was going to church, but she never understood about Joseph Smith, she didn't like that part. We taught her about how important Prophets are and challenged her to pray and ask God if He has Called a Prophet in these days. She said that she didn't need to pray, because she could already feel that he was a Prophet, that she had never understood before, but now listening to it again she did!!!! The Spirit was really strong!!! It was really cool!!!!
Well, I gotta go!!!! But remember to ALWAYS look for someone you can share the Gospel with!!!! This work does not go forward without references from the members!!!! Nothing happens until we find someone to teach!!!!!! I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!!!!!!! THANKS for the prayers!!!!!!! I am praying for y'all EVERYDAY!!!!! Love, Tarah Ray Sherrod!!!!!!!
November 17, 2014
November 17, 2014
Re: Package has been sent
Yeah, I guess I exaggerated the shoulders thing, but if feels barely to my shoulders so... But yeah, I like it! I am still planning on growing it out, but it doesn't look bad or anything! And I have been getting complements like crazy from the members when I have it straightened. Its really funny! I used to wear my hair straightened a lot in high school and got complements when I started doing it curly more often, here its the opposite!! haha!!!! THANK YOU SOOOOOOOO MUCH for sending the package!!!!! Seriously!!!!!!!!! THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LE AMO BUSTANTE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I had thought of a request for the package you wanted to send for Christmas, but you have already sent it, haha! I had thought of a package of double stuffed Oreos because my companion LOVES, but seriously LOVES them!!! You cant get them here or in Ecuador. She has only tried them from her other Norte companions, but I thought of that this week. It would be awesome if I could give her those!!! Also Javier who got married and baptized, he has been attending church for over a decade now and already knows all the basics, but he is really interested in the Spirit World and all that about family history work and now that he can participate it'll be really cool to see what miracles happen!!! But we were talking about the Spirit World and he expressed a lot of interest in knowing how it is in the Spirit World, I shared a few things that I know from the personal experiences we (you and I and the family) have had and what we have studied but I mentioned the book The Message. He can read English so he has an interest in reading it, so I wanted to give him a copy!!! But if I am remembering right, when you send packages its just in the box that is 20 dollars no matter what weight and then more depending on where you are sending it right? So if it is a lot of money to just sent those two things, dont worry about it!!! I can send them along at a later time!!! I will certainly be praying that the package gets here!!! Hna Macia and I are SO Hoping that we will spend Christmas together. We have been talking about Christmas traditions and everything and I am SO EXCITED to have another Christmas here in Guatemala!!! We broke out the Christmas music this morning, Josh Groban and Celine Dion!!! I am SO GRATEFUL and HAPPY that this year I can think about being apart at Christmas and enjoy Christmas music without sending me into a panic attack because of my depression like last year!!! It was like exactly a year ago that I was starting to have serious panic attacks and depression and wow, I am just SO THANKFUL that the Lord healed me!!!! It is a MIRACLE!!!! Heavenly Father really, truly LOVES US ALL!!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH for ALL of your prayers!!!! Because I know He healed me by your Fe!!!!!! But seriously, I am SO looking forward to Christmas!!!! I of course would LOVE to be home with y'all, but I am SO THANKFUL and HAPPY to be a Missionary right now and to have the opportunity to give the Message of our Savior and Redeemer that makes Christmas SO SPECIAL and SO IMPORTANT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I AM SERIOUSLY SO EXCITED for CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!!!!! And I AM SO THANKFUL and SOOOOOOOOO HAPPY for the Peace I fill in my Calling as a Missionary this year!!!!!!!!!!! It is SUCH an AMAZING MIRACLE for me!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I know God lives and that HE LOVES US!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And its cool because I am in a climate that it is more or less similar to the climate Christ would of been born into!!!! WHOOHOO!!!! And if the Tree is still up when I come home I would LOVE that!!!!!!!!!!!!! SERIOUSLY!!!!!!!!!!! So just whatever y'all want to do!!!!!!!!!! Well I am going to read some and write some more!!!! LOVE, Your daughter, Tarah Ray!!!!!
Re: Package has been sent
Yeah, I guess I exaggerated the shoulders thing, but if feels barely to my shoulders so... But yeah, I like it! I am still planning on growing it out, but it doesn't look bad or anything! And I have been getting complements like crazy from the members when I have it straightened. Its really funny! I used to wear my hair straightened a lot in high school and got complements when I started doing it curly more often, here its the opposite!! haha!!!! THANK YOU SOOOOOOOO MUCH for sending the package!!!!! Seriously!!!!!!!!! THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LE AMO BUSTANTE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I had thought of a request for the package you wanted to send for Christmas, but you have already sent it, haha! I had thought of a package of double stuffed Oreos because my companion LOVES, but seriously LOVES them!!! You cant get them here or in Ecuador. She has only tried them from her other Norte companions, but I thought of that this week. It would be awesome if I could give her those!!! Also Javier who got married and baptized, he has been attending church for over a decade now and already knows all the basics, but he is really interested in the Spirit World and all that about family history work and now that he can participate it'll be really cool to see what miracles happen!!! But we were talking about the Spirit World and he expressed a lot of interest in knowing how it is in the Spirit World, I shared a few things that I know from the personal experiences we (you and I and the family) have had and what we have studied but I mentioned the book The Message. He can read English so he has an interest in reading it, so I wanted to give him a copy!!! But if I am remembering right, when you send packages its just in the box that is 20 dollars no matter what weight and then more depending on where you are sending it right? So if it is a lot of money to just sent those two things, dont worry about it!!! I can send them along at a later time!!! I will certainly be praying that the package gets here!!! Hna Macia and I are SO Hoping that we will spend Christmas together. We have been talking about Christmas traditions and everything and I am SO EXCITED to have another Christmas here in Guatemala!!! We broke out the Christmas music this morning, Josh Groban and Celine Dion!!! I am SO GRATEFUL and HAPPY that this year I can think about being apart at Christmas and enjoy Christmas music without sending me into a panic attack because of my depression like last year!!! It was like exactly a year ago that I was starting to have serious panic attacks and depression and wow, I am just SO THANKFUL that the Lord healed me!!!! It is a MIRACLE!!!! Heavenly Father really, truly LOVES US ALL!!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH for ALL of your prayers!!!! Because I know He healed me by your Fe!!!!!! But seriously, I am SO looking forward to Christmas!!!! I of course would LOVE to be home with y'all, but I am SO THANKFUL and HAPPY to be a Missionary right now and to have the opportunity to give the Message of our Savior and Redeemer that makes Christmas SO SPECIAL and SO IMPORTANT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I AM SERIOUSLY SO EXCITED for CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!!!!! And I AM SO THANKFUL and SOOOOOOOOO HAPPY for the Peace I fill in my Calling as a Missionary this year!!!!!!!!!!! It is SUCH an AMAZING MIRACLE for me!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I know God lives and that HE LOVES US!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And its cool because I am in a climate that it is more or less similar to the climate Christ would of been born into!!!! WHOOHOO!!!! And if the Tree is still up when I come home I would LOVE that!!!!!!!!!!!!! SERIOUSLY!!!!!!!!!!! So just whatever y'all want to do!!!!!!!!!! Well I am going to read some and write some more!!!! LOVE, Your daughter, Tarah Ray!!!!!
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