letter 3/21/11

. I heard Jimmer is on fire. I accidently looked at the front page of the Denver Post on Thursday and he was the whole cover. Not the sports, but the whole thing. I was amazed! Jimmermania sweeps the nation! Rise and Shout! Too bad for Utah State, real shame. I was almost cheering for them (not). I've heard about a lot of upsets, they sure weren't lying. Go Bulls! I hear that they lead the East as well. Go figure, all my teams start doing good when I'm not there. I call it the blessings of missionary work.
Ha, I didn't get to watch it, although I was offered. Satan works in powerful ways sometimes. At church yesterday, I think I asked about ten different people so that I could get the real story. It's funny how everyone tells it so differently, so I took all the stories and made my own assumptions.
. Haha, that is too funny. I did read that article in the Ensign, I'm so glad that someone followed it. It's weird how I've grown to love the Ensign...I read it cover to cover within 2 days of getting it. Man, it's great to hear about all these soon-to-be Elder's. The more I talk to other people and where they came from (even in Utah), I realize that I was at a great school for future missionaries. I'd guess that half of our Senior Class will go, which is way higher than anywhere else.
Anyways, on to my week. It's weird that this all seems to be going by so fast...Last Monday, we visited with a guy named Brian Barnum. He's 28 but has been inactive for 8 years. He was on the verge of going on a mission but chose not to. His grandma, who was raising him, said, "What will people think of me when they hear you aren't going?" That really put him off. He moved to Boulder about a year later and was "garment checked" by the girls in that YSA branch. He still lives a lot of the Mormon standards but doesn't go to church because of these experiences. He recently got a call from his grandma, saying she has cancer. That same day, Elders Gnehm and Goesch tracted into him. For that reason, he wanted us to come back and talk. Last Monday was the first time we had been over and it went really great. I think with a little more work, he will come back. He see's the importance, he just claims to be "too busy". Ugh. Satan.
Tuesday, I was on exchanges with the ZL's again. It seems like I'm always with them haha. It's not a bad thing though, I love those Elders. Elder Lassen and I were on our way to Commerce City (the ghetto) that afternoon but saw a huge plume of black smoke behind us. We didn't turn around because of an appointment, but on the way back we went to see what it was. It turns out that it was a trailer-home that was just scorched within half an hour. The sad part is that there was an old, disabled lady that died instantly. It was too bad. The Monte Vista Elders happened to be knocking doors in that area when it happened. They were about a block away when it blew up. The cool part was that they were going to go down that street, but both of them felt not to and they went the opposite way. Thank goodness for the Spirit. They did get some sweet video from like half a block away of all the flames and smoke though. It was nuts!
That same day, we went to visit a referral of the ZL's. She was given a Book of Mormon on her college campus and had read it. She said that she was "intrigued" by it and all the things that she had read. We talked to her a little more about it and she agreed to have us back the next night. It was a neat experience because that was my first time getting a first lesson appointment. I was pretty excited!
On Wednesday, we got to do "role-play" with the young men in our ward. They are planning on visiting all the less-actives of their quorm to try and invite them to one of their activities. The reason I tell you this is because these were some of the most awkward kids I have ever seen! It was unbelievable at how tense and just weird these kids got when it came to talking about church. It was just crazy to see the way they reacted to a simple, "hi, who are you?" from us. It did get a little better throughout the night, but you can only do so much haha.On to the musical fireside. It was a super neat experience. We taught the 1st lesson and put it to hymns and children's songs. At the end, we invited all the youth up and sang the EFY Medley. The Spirit was so strong and I don't think there were many people that left with dry eyes. It was so cool to see everyone unite and share a wonderful experience. I did sing, but only in our district's songs. No solo's haha. The really cool part was that Brighton had an investigator there who they have taught for about two weeks. After the meeting, he walked straight up to Elder Goesch and Elder Meyer and asked to be baptized. I think the fireside did it's job.
Anyways, I'm off to go do missionary stuff. Isn't it weird to think that I'll have been out 2 months on the 26th? Time flies!
Love you all!
Elder Shepard